Ghana's William Amponsah to miss Boston Marathon due to visa issues

Ghana's hope of getting a medal in the upcoming Boston Marathon is facing a setback following a tough visa hurdles on athlete William Amponsah.

Amponsah, who is Ghana's only card in the marathon, may miss out at the Marathon as his travel is put in limbo by Ghana's foreign Affairs ministry. With just three days to the event, the young athlete is still chasing his Visa to make it the US for the competition that stands as the world's oldest annual marathon.

The long distance is billed to make his Boston debut following his exploits at the 2018 Dubai Marathon. According to checks by ghanaguardian.com, William was supposed to be in camp at the United States a week to the start of the competition to have an adequate preparation.

But as at Thursday,11th April, no progress has been made to facilitate his move, which could see the young Ghanaian race against world-class internationals in a bid to make a name for himself and country.

The 123rd Boston Marathon will be run on April 15, 2019, with the field capped at 30,000 entrants.

It is however not known what has caused the refusal of the ministry to issue the visa to the 20-year old.

Boston Marathon can only be registered with an IAAF time and Amponsah made his international time at the Dubai marathon 2018 where he placed 3rd on his category and 21st overall.

He got the chance to pitch his strength against other professionals in the Dubai marathon as part of his prize for winning the maiden Asante Akyem Marathon challenge in 2017.