Asiamah woos Malta to support Ghana sports

The Ministry of Youth and Sports has expressed interest in partnering with the government of Malta to fund the development of sports in the West African country.

According to sector minister, Isaac Kwame Asiamah, Ghana could benefit from Malta's expertise in water sports such as swimming, canoeing and rowing.

He made this known when the First Gentleman of Malta, Edgar Preca paid a courtesy call on him at his office in Accra on Wednesday, 26 July 2017.

"From what I have read about Malta, you are so much into water sports, golf and other disciplines. My request is that we need to partner and have a relationship that will benefit both of our interests in terms of sports infrastructure," he said.

"We have 43 sporting federations and the greatest challenge of every developing country is funding and how we can fund sports in this country. We know that you are already helping this country in the area of humanitarian services, but we are determined to deliver in this area of sports for Ghanaians," he added.

Mr Asiamah said government has put in place policies which will ensure that sports will be used as a weapon to create jobs and prevent crime.

Mr Preca on his part lauded the transformational qualities of sports describing it as a means for uniting nations and providing employment for people from all walks of life.

He said: "I love sports a lot because it is a means of uniting nations, it can also build bridges and if you look across football, many big clubs like Man United, Real Madrid and Bayern employ a lot of foreigners. I’m not a politician but I believe if the people of the world can engage through sports, there will be peace and we will leave a better world for the next generation."

Present during the interaction were boxing legend Azumah Nelson, members of the Professional Footballers Association of Ghana including Tony Baffoe, Ibrahim Tanko, Augustine Arhinful, businessman Kennedy Somuah Agyapong and Ghana Shooting Association President Cillian Walsh.