"Our Focus is On World Cup 2006" - Aggrey

The Deputy Minister of Youth and Sports, Mr. Joe Aggrey, says Ghana's main goal is to qualify for the World Cup in 2006 and not necessarily the African Cup of Nations.

Speaking to Mailsports in Accra he said, "We have won the African Cup of Nations four times already but the fact that we have not gone to the World Cup has been a major problem for this country and this is what we want to work at."


Mr. Aggrey said Ghana is building and grooming a youthful National Team now, so that the players will be fit for international tournaments in future. "We are putting emphasis on the youth. We hope that they would not only do well in CAN 2002 but we can rely on them for subsequent competitions like the Olympic Games and the World Cup."


The Deputy Minister said it is very unfortunate that there has not been stability at the Ministry of Youth and Sports which has inhibited the performance of sports in the country. "Sports has been a difficult ministry. We have had three Ministers within the first year and for a ministry to have focus, it has to have stability. This is something that unfortunately has not happened to the ministry."


Mr. Aggrey said structures have been put in place to arrest the situation and added that gone are the days when the ministry was called a football ministry. "We are for all sports and this is something that we would continue to do this year and the year to come so that we can have an all round sports administration and not just something for football."

He said Ghana is not poor in terms of resources and what government is going to embark upon this year is to upgrade sporting facilities at the various stadiums throughout the country. Places like Kaladan Stadium in Tamale, Nkawkaw, Tema and Sekondi he said have good resources which must be exploited. "Without these good facilities it is not possible to have good football played."


Mr. Joe Aggrey bemoaned the obsolete facilities boxers in this country use to train. He said it is government's intention to build modern gyms throughout the country and to equip boxers to suit international standards.


He said the tartan tracks on the Kumasi Sports Stadium would be renovated with modern ones.


He concluded, "our focus is to get the basic things done first before we can move forward."