Why I retired from Ghana to compete for the Netherlands - Ignisious Gaisah

Former Ghanaian athlete, Ignisious Gaisah, has disclosed why he opted to switch nationality and compete for the Netherlands after the 2012 Olympic Games, at which he competed for Ghana in the long jump competition.

In 2013, Gaisah made official his decision to ditch Ghana for the Netherlands, stating that the lure of partaking in international competitions with the European country was too strong to resist.

Gaisah, in his letter to the Ghana Athletics Association, said, “I would like you to consider my request to give me permission to compete for the Netherlands as soon as possible, as I won’t compete for many years anymore and would like to use the remaining years to go to international tournaments and compete in the international circuit.”

More than a decade later, Gaisah has opened up on the decision, hinting at economic reasons for the move.

He told Citi TV that he made the move because the Netherlands guaranteed more opportunities for him after retirement from the sport.

“I have been living in the Netherlands since 2001 so it has become my second home. I served Ghana from 1999 to 2012. I realized that I was getting old and my family had already settled there, so, why continue competing for Ghana? I decided to switch nationalities and compete for the Netherlands. I realized that after my career, I could find a better job there. That was the main reason. It wasn’t difficult switching nationality because I had been living there since 2001,” he said.

Ignisious Gaisah expressed his view on competing for Ghana, explaining that while he enjoyed great support from lay Ghanaians, the same could not be said of the officials, whose primary duty was to ensure the welfare of the athletes.

“It was great because Ghanaians always supported you but when it came to the officials, we always had issues. We (the athletes) had to finance our training and other things ourselves. We had expectations of getting something in return for competing for the country, but you don’t even get what you spend on yourself. We always complained about the officials because they don’t really give what we deserve,” he said.

After retirement from active long jump, Ignisious Gaisah honed his craft as an athletics coach and has returned home as one of the coaches preparing Ghanaian athletes for the track and field events of the 2023 African Games.

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