Some sports journalists have lost their jobs due to coronavirus – SWAG

Some journalists who specialize in reporting sports news have lost their jobs due to the coronavirus pandemic, Charles Osei Assibey, Secretary of the Sports Writers Association of Ghana (SWAG) has said.

Discussing the impact of COVID-19 on the sector, Osei Assibey bemoaned “the triple effect” of the pandemic on the sports.

According to him, the coronavirus pandemic has affected every aspect of the sports industry from jobs, revenue generation to competitions.

He told www.ghanaweb.com that some media houses have been forced to lay off staff in order to keep their heads above water and that has led to some colleague sports journalists either being fired or suffering salary cuts. He also mentioned the SWAG awards as one of many sporting events that have been put on indefinite suspension due to the virus.

“This is a triple effect. As a journalist representing SWAG as a secretary, we have been affected. First of all, a few of our members have been rendered redundant. They have lost their jobs, some have also faced pay cuts. The annual SWAG Awards has also been suspended and we are not even organizing meetings. As an administrator, I feel that we have been hit hard because none of the federations is even training. We were to go to the Olympics but because of the virus, it has been suspended”, he said.

Osei Assibey who doubles as the President of the Ghana Armwrestling Federation also shed light on the impact the virus has had on the sport.

“We had a series of activities for the year and started with the armwrestling showdown. We were going to the Tertiary institutions to organize something we call Campus Rumble but the pandemic halted us. Especially when the President had to place a ban on social gathering. Again we had also signed a partnership agreement deal with a national broadcaster to begin the broadcasting league so that one is also on hold”.