Either the Money has Arrived For Athletics Or

....there has been Pressure from “Above”!
GAAA Back Tracks! Asem Beba

Dabi! On January 23rd, 2002, the Chief Athletics Coach proclaimed before the Ghanaian public via Ghana News Agency that “Officials are not keen on sending a very large contingent to the Commonwealth games and therefore he and his committee had settled on Vida Anim, Aziz Zakari and Margaret Simpson.”

Despite the fact that only one of these three had qualified to be counted as one of Ghana’s top athletes from 2001—and indeed, per international rankings, Aziz was the top Ghanaian athlete of 2001—the honorable coach did not bother to explain the criteria by which the three had been selected. Indeed, by all the accounts of past national athletes, Ghana has never bothered to give her athletes clear, objective criteria by which an athletics team will be selected in the last two decades. Perhaps, this is intentional so that patriotic officials can draw up selections at the last minute, even if this costs the country because our best athletes are not selected.

It should not be surprising then that last year, too, the announcement was made that only three athletes would represent us at the World Championships in Canada. Again, this team as a group was NOT our best three (although our #1 athlete was included), but since no one knew how they had been selected, no one could “challenge” it. It should also not be surprising that by the time the officials got to Canada, a fourth athlete had been covertly invited (and this athlete ended up running a different event from the one she had dominated the American universities scene on, that year). Such is Ghana athletics: take the wrong people and then have them run the wrong event. If you understand this then it wasn’t strange that for both Sydney AND Atlanta, Ghana paid for athletes who had not qualified to go to the Olympics (the competition which is supposed to be for the privileged best, qualified athletes in the world), and because they had not qualified they were not allowed by the International Olympic Committee to compete, meaning that Ghana wasted some of our precious few “dollars”. This can only happen when there are no set, established, fair criteria.

One would wonder, why do our officials act like that at the expense of our poor country. That, I can only speculate on. But, so can you. In fact, there was actually one athlete who went to BOTH Sydney and Atlanta, even though he didn’t qualify for either Games. In another case, an unqualified athlete who had not qualified by the deadline was taken all the way from camp in Holland to Sydney; one of our officials, is on record as arguing in the press that the International body had given this athlete special dispensation to proceed to Sydney to try to qualify there because he was so close to the standard. First, the international federation does not need to give anyone special dispensation to take unqualified athletes; countries are free to take whomever they want (they just won’t get to compete and your money will be wasted), so why would our official go as far as telling such a story. As I said, you can speculate on why. When you think about things like this, it makes the fiascos we have had as a team at major competitions not seem like bad luck after all; one day one of us reporters will step up and tell the full, true story (as told by the athletes on that team) of why our relay team got disqualified in Atlanta after reaching the final. Asem beba dabi!

Meanwhile, let me stop deviating and return to the present. Most athletes I spoke to following that announcement that only three were going to the Commonwealth Games were stunned, particularly by who the three people were (even though the Head Coach claims these are best medal prospects—by the way, it would be really nice if my fellow press men or women in Ghana asked our honorable coach to explain how he calculates these three to be our best medal chances). The athletes I spoke to wondered how on earth the Head Athletics Coach could agree with the Ghana Amateur Athletic Association (GAAA) and announce with no hesitation that they had settled on three individuals who are yet to compete in 2002. Ironically, one of those athletes selected, Aziz Zakari, who is currently Ghana’s premier sprinter (and athlete) who has himself been selected as one of the three, was baffled by this mind-blowing decision and erroneous rationalization. Aziz said “as an athlete and a competitor, I am training to the best of my ability in order to secure a spot on the team (which I believe I will earn) and I am flattered to be selected when I have not competed yet this year. But how can anybody predict who will be Ghana’s best athlete(s) three months from now? I will hate to be in the position that some of my fellow friends and athletes are now. Think about it. Are they supposed to quit training?”

Roll forward the tape of time to February 7th, 2000: Now the “source” says “At least ten to go for Commonwealth games”. To be frank, I was not surprised to hear that the GAAA had made a full 180 degree turn. They had no choice. “The GAAA on Tuesday debunked an earlier report that only three Ghanaian athletes would represent the country at this year's Commonwealth Games in Manchester………..The source said much as he (the Coach, that is) agrees that Vida, Margaret and Aziz are currently the nation's medal hopefuls, it would be wrong to rule other equally good ones out completely.”

Did the GAAA just realize that their earlier decision was wrong??? Who or rather which members of the GAAA came to the earlier conclusion that only three athletes should be selected due to their potential medal status? In my opinion, they should be fired. I am not a genius, but when I first heard the announcement, I decided to check last year’s world rankings. And what did I find? Only one of those three athletes (Aziz Zachari) was ranked in the top 30 in the world in their respective events. Ghana had as many as seven others including Anim and Simpson all clustered around 40th to 50th in their respective events. This group included proven athletes such as Vida Nsiah (Olympic Semi-finalist, 2000), Samuel Okantey (African Championships Silver medalist, 2000), Andrew Owusu (African Championships record holder, 3-Time African Champion 1998, 1999, 2000…Commonwealth Games Silver Medalist, 1998). And what about Leonard Myles-Mills, the only Ghanaian athlete who belongs to the elite club of world athletes who have run under 10 seconds in the 100 meter dash? Has he been written off just because he was injured last year? How on earth could the GAAA have ruled these athletes out? Could there have been a hidden agenda?

Now we are being told that at least 10 athletes will represent Ghana at the Commonwealth Games. Hmmm, let me see. All of a sudden we have at least ten medal hopefuls? Or has the Castle released some more money since the few weeks since the first announcement? If so “show me the money”. And by the way, where is the Minister for Sports in all this? Has this been brought to his attention?

I am glad that athletes like Andrew Owusu enlightened us to the plight of athletics. In his article “Why Ghana Athletics Must Be Overhauled”, he spoke about how the system could be improved and did us all a great favor by letting us know what is going on with athletics. Prior to reading the article Owusu wrote, I was beginning to think that our athletes were a bunch of losers who cared about nothing but themselves. Then came Owusu’s article and thank God he wrote it. The GAAA had almost convinced me that 2+2=5.

What prompted this 180 degree turn? Was it the public outrage to the earlier announcement of selecting a team two weeks into the 28 week athletic season? What are we supposed to get out of this new message? If Ghana fails to impress at the Commonwealth Games, will the GAAA blame athletes again as it did after the Olympic Games in Sydney?

Believe it on not Amanfo, none of Ghana’s top athletes that I spoke to (Aziz Zakari, Leonard Myles-Mills, Vida Nsiah, Monica Twum, Andrew Owusu and Christian Nsiah) have formally heard from the GAAA about its plans for the Commonwealth Games. Like the rest of us, they find out about decisions through news outlets. This boggles my mind. How can the very people who are most directly affected by these decisions not even be formally notified by the very Association created to serve them? Perhaps, Ernest Obeng, Francis Dodoo, Eric Akogyiram and all those others who were always fighting the GAAA were right after all. Perhaps if we had listened to them and done some reforms our athletics programs would be doing much better (countries like Senegal and Cameroon are winning medals at the World level now and all we do is have constant fighting in camp). Instead of listening to those early folks, we wrote them off, called them arrogant self-serving athletes, made up stories about them, and ended their careers prematurely. Yes, they lost, but Ghana lost more. It is no surprise that we are also the country where our athletes have defected more than even Cuba, only to become stars for their new countries—Ernest Obeng, Gus Nketia, Paa Nii, Tanko Abass, Philomena Mensah, Kofi Yevakpor, Kwaku Boateng, Nabiama Salifu and Martha Adusei etc., etc.. How many Ghanaian born sports men/women do you know that currently compete for other countries irrespective of the sport? There is something seriously wrong with our system. Can’t we get someone who loves Ghana sport enough to help us?

Let’s make a change before we lose another cohort of talent to a system that is if, nothing else, morally and ethically corrupt. After all, countries like Senegal and Cameroun, who we never deemed powerhouses, and who don’t have more money than us have put systems in place which now produce gold and silver medalists at the World Championships (look at last year’s World results). Oh, Ghana, we talk about morality and reform in the political arena. Why don’t we practice it in every aspect of our society…like in the GAAA. Because of a little bit of public outcry, the GAAA has changed its tune from three athletes to ten! Why does the association always have to be reactive, instead of doing the proper, correct, ethical, and think preemptively? Note that the athletes are happy that the numbers are increased; BUT, it is still wrong to have pre-selected three specific persons with false considerations (that this is the best collective medal chance), and also done so before anyone of them has competed this year. Don’t forget, Mr. Coach, that just last year you said that no one would be selected unless they meet the qualification mark three times. Now, all you have to do is to let the athletes know what those marks are, and how much time they have to hit the mark three times. Be fair! Corruption is finished in Ghana! We hope you REACT to this letter too. The whole of Ghana is watching you! We want probity and accountability! Asem beba dabi!

Finally, I was pleased to find out about the internet site that these athletes (foreign based and home based) have put together in an effort to revive the glory of athletics in Ghana. They have gone as far as registering themselves to create a global data base of Ghanaian athletes and are in the process of selecting candidates who will be voted for to serve as representatives. This maybe a first in Ghana sports that individuals within a sport are coming together in an effort to revive their sport. The name appropriately is “GhanaAthletics” and its internet address is “www.ghanaathletics.com”. I wish the athletes luck.

Kwadwo Mensah (Sportatech News Organization)