Paralympics Scandal: There should've been more collaboration among state institutions - Saddick Adams

Prominent sports journalist Saddick Adams has opined that the Ministry of National Security should have liaised with the Sports Ministry to fact-check the Paralympics visa scandal.

According to Adams, the National Security publishing of names of the supposed athletes involved in the scandal without verification has tarnished the image of the sport and Ghanaian football in general.

"I think their initial release calling the team members of the Ghana Paralympics just because somebody has fictitiously secured maybe letters that he is not supposed to have does not mean that it's the team.

It further embarrasses and denigrates the image of our sports. If the Ministry of Sports is saying that they did not issue letters for any team, and they are aware that there is no Ghana Paralympic team in Norway, then the Ministry of National Security should have contacted the Ministry of Sports to further get these details."

"And once you are finished with these details, you know that you do not refer to the team as a Ghana Paralympic team. Because embassies are going to be worried. Embassies are going to be very concerned when visa applications for the genuine Paralympic members or even Ghana sporting teams, just because we failed to do due diligence. This has happened before in 2009," he said in a video shared on his YouTube page.

Adams had earlier revealed that the supposed Paralympic team was actually a group of impersonators posing as members of the real Paralympic team, who managed to get themselves to Norway with the intention of absconding.

He mentioned that there are always fake teams trying to take advantage of travel opportunities meant for real para teams, recalling an incident where a court stopped a fake amputee from traveling ahead of the real team.

The Ministry of Youth and Sports and the President of the Paralympic team have both stated that the real Paralympic team members were not involved in the scandal and have promised to take action against the culprits.

Watch the video below:



SB/OGB