Class Warfare: Why are Soccer Players First Class Citizens and Athletes Third Class Citizens?

I read in the news media last week that President, John Agyekum Kufuor, had promised the Ghana Black Stars $3,000 each as winning bonus in Saturday?s World Cup qualifier against Burkina Faso. The financial motivation, which becomes the new winning bonus for the 2006 World Cup qualifiers, represents a 50 per cent increase on the previous $2000 paid for World Cup qualifiers.

This announcement came at a time when the bulk of Ghana?s representatives for Athletics in the upcoming Olympic games, which is two months away, are yet to receive a pesewa for their preparation towards the Games. Two weeks ago some of our foreign based athletes were chastised for disclosing publicly how financial constraints were hampering their preparation and the fact that some of the expenses they incurred last year in preparing for the All African Games were not refunded. To add insult to injury, the Chairman of the GAA recently stated that there was no room within athletics for athletes who are engaged in other activities such as school and work even if those activities are responsible for continuing success of the athletes. In short he wants full time athletes only. However, here we are, 2 months from the Olympics and not a pesewa has been spent on the athletes for preparation. So how does this so-called Chairman expect these young men and women to survive?

It is quiet disheartening that this same group of athletes made Ghana proud at last year?s all African Games and yet they are literally begging for help to represent the nation again. They were never really compensated appropriately for their heroics in Abuja apart from handshakes from bigwig officials with empty promises to help them prepare very well for the Olympic Games.

According to reliable sources, the situation is so bad that the athletes have started soliciting help from Ghanaian associations abroad to help finance their preparations for the Olympic Games where they will be representing you, me and every other Ghanaian.

Nobody is denying the fact that soccer is the main sport in Ghana, however, pound for pound, our athletes have out performed our soccer players in the last five years. Yet, last year at the All African Games, the Satellites were paid $1,000 each for drawing in the preliminary round whereas athletes who had already won gold medals were yet to receive a pesewa.

The athletes have already sacrificed a lot in getting ready for these games and it is time that the current administration lived up to its promises. By the way if anybody wants to help these athletes, you can contact them by going to their website www.ghanaathletics.com. I am surely going to contribute my widows might to these athletes because they always make me proud to be a Ghanaian.