886 athletes cleared for YEA allowance package

The National Sports Authority (NSA) has cleared 886 athletes who have qualified as beneficiaries of the Youth Employment Authority (YEA) monthly allowance package.

Each qualified athlete would receive a monthly stipend of GH¢500 beginning July for the next six months.

On Friday, August 7, the Committee set up by Management of the NSA to vet prospective sportsmen and women, eligible to benefit from the sports allowance submitted its report to Professor Peter Twumasi, the Director General of the NSA.

The Director General has subsequently submitted the list to the YEA to process for payment of their monthly allowances soon.

The Package is meant for 1,000 athletes from all sporting disciplines but so far, only 886 have qualified to be on the scheme.

According to the NSA, 1,551 athletes applied for the allowance and

went through the vetting process conducted by the NSA with 886 given the green light.

A supplementary list of the remaining 114 slots would be submitted later after prospective athletes who have some pending documentation issues have

been cleared by the vetting committee.

According to the NSA, some of the applicants failed to attend the interview despite provisions made at all regional offices of the NSA across the country to interview prospective applicants.

Able Sports category was made up of 35 Associations who submitted athletes for consideration; and one individual skating athlete. (Skating is not duly registered with NSA, however, the athlete was considered due to his exploits at the International level.

Para Sports category was made up of 16 Associations that brought a list of athletes who have qualified for the sports allowance and the Women’s Football team made up of 16 premier clubs submitted 31 athletes each for vetting.

In all, 348 slots is made available for Able Sports, 95 for Para Sports and 443 for Women’s football clubs in the country.

However, applicants who are already beneficiaries of various forms of institutional allowances, stipends and salaries from state agencies and corporate organizations were not considered for the package.