Basketball is off the road; declares Queen

1978 Sports Writers Association of Ghana Female Basketball Player of the Year Salifatu Musa has ripped authorities for the stunted growth of basketball in Ghana as a result of many years of neglect.

The award winner made the statement in an exclusive with Basketballghana.com at the recently held Universities, Polytechnics and Colleges (UPAC) Basketball Championship Zone B games. The Championship, which is headlined by Rexona, is the third edition of Ghana’s biggest tertiary basketball tournament.

Nicknamed “Basket Queen”, on the back of many years leading the female national basketball team in several contests, the former international was in the stands to witness institutions from the Upper West and Northern Regions compete for a spot in the latter stages of the competition before getting some shots up in a free throw contest during recess.

She said, “Basketball in Ghana now is off the road and I don’t blame the players, I blame the central government because this time round, all the attention is on only football. Sometimes when there are even competitions, they tell you there are no funds but when it is football even if they are going to beg or steal money to organize it they will do it.”

The former Guard, who trained Tournament Most Valuable Player Abdou Fatau, also highlighted the almost defunct state of female basketball in the country where the ladies game struggles to feature in the few competitions organized.

On the day, University of Development Studies (UDS-Tamale) sailed through a tough.group involving Wa Polytechnic and Tamale Polytechnic to book a spot in the quarter final of the UPAC Championship set to take place on April 14 at the University of Ghana.