Ben Nunoo Mensah President of the Ghana Olympic Committee
Ben Nunoo Mensah President of the Ghana Olympic Committee (GOC) has called on corporate Ghana to invest in sports to support the nation’s athletes as they prepare for the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo, Japan.
According to the hardworking president who is also in charge of Ghana Weightlifting Federation (GWF), government alone cannot cater for the sporting needs of the nation and it was about time for corporate Ghana to turn their attention to sports.
He said supporting a sports man or a sporting event was rewarding as that particular sportsman or women could use her sporting talent to engage in social vices.
Mr. Nunoo Mensah said he had been able to secure some financial support from Association of National Olympic Committees of Africa (ANOCA) for Team Ghana, and all the federations that were have began preparations for their qualifiers.
He said so far only one able athlete had qualified for the 200 meters race, and two disabled athletes have made it for the 2020 Paralympics.
He said Ghana needs to qualify in other disciplines like athletics, boxing, weightlifting, volleyball, swimming, judo, karate do, table tennis, shooting and fencing, after the football teams failed to qualify.
Mr. Nunoo Mensah said participating at the Olympic Games was very important, and winning an Olympic medal would be a great achievement.
He noted that Ghana had not won many medals at the Olympic Games and it was time the nation invests and reaps the benefits of sports.
He said sports was an advertising tool, which many nations and people have exploited and benefited from.
He said though Ghana lacks sports facilities, there are many talented youth who can perform and shine if given the chance and opportunity at the big stage.
