SWAG salutes athletes but bemoans pathetic state of sports

Accra, Aug 20, GNA - The Sportswriters Association of Ghana (SWAG) has congratulated the national athletics team for their outstanding performance at the just ended 2006 African Athletics Championship held in Mauritius.

Ghana finished in a respectable fifth position with a total haul of four gold and two bronze medals.

A statement signed by Maurice Quansah, Deputy General Secretary of SWAG said, the honour brought to the nation by the athletes at the just-ended Championship is a source of pride for all Ghanaians as it comes just two months just after the Black Stars similarly brought pride and joy to Ghana at the FIFA World Cup in Germany.

=93It is significant to note that despite the neglect suffered by the sport, track and field athletics has consistently brought more honour to Ghana than any other sport in the last few years with the performance of the country's athletes at major international events on the ascendancy since the 2003 All Africa Games in Abuja, Nigeria.

The SWAG said it therefore notes with pride the outstanding performance of athletes such as Ignatius Gaisah and Eric Nkansah and members of the men and women's sprints quartets and in particular the reigning African sprints queen, Vida Anim, who won three gold medals in the 100m and 200m and 4x100m relays.

It said Gaisah's golden feat in the men's long jump was very much anticipated, having already won this year's International Amateur Athletics Federation (IAAF) World Indoor Championship in Moscow and the Commonwealth Games in Melbourne.

The statement said Anim's performance was however most refreshing, particularly as she finally put to rest her disappointments at past major competitions to establish herself as the continent's premier female sprinter as well as emerging as the star performer at the Mauritius championship.

It added that the conspicuous absence of African heptathlon champion, Margaret Simpson, who is enjoying motherhood and that of Ghana's sprints' king, Aziz Zakari, who has been suspended by the sport's world governing body IAAF for a failed drug test robbed the country of two potential gold medals.

=93Just as was evident at Abuja 2003, the 2005 Helsinki World Championship, the 2006 World Indoor Championship and the Melbourne Commonwealth Games, the exploits of our athletes at Mauritius was ample evidence that the sport holds a lot of promise, with Simpson, Gaisah and Zakari as living proofs of world-class athletes.

The statement added that 93It is indeed sad to note that while the achievements of Ghanaian athletes at major competitions make a strong case for a greater national attention for the sport, athletics has unfortunately been treated like an orphan while football always receives preferential treatment.=94

The statement said that after the Black Stars returned from Germany where the team reached the second round of the World Cup, each player was richer by about 100,000 dollars as their winning bonuses and allowances.

It said even though the team deserved the financial rewards and the red-carpet treatment and the highest national honour received from President John Kufuor.

The statement said it is however interesting to note that months after high-flying Gaisah had earlier become the world indoor champion in Moscow to pull off Ghana's highest ever accomplishment in world athletics, in addition to winning gold at the Melbourne Commonwealth Games no significant reward was accorded him.

It said that the long jumper surprisingly received a much lesser state honour and remuneration for an accomplishment that towers way above that achieved by the Black Stars, adding that such situations makes athletes feel slighted.

SWAG recalled the glorious past of Ghana sports under the administration of Ohene Djan of blessed memory, when Ghana ruled African athletics and sports and extended her dominance to the world stage as a result of a policy that ensured that both athletics and football received almost equal national attention.

It said the sordid state of the sport is an indictment to all Ghanaians, especially sports journalists and for that matter, SWAG cannot escape blame for the neglect and deprivation being suffered by athletics because sports journalists and broadcasters have not been strong advocates for the sport as has been the case for soccer. The statement advised sports journalists to be strong advocates of lesser known sports so as to redirect the nation's focus and shape national policy towards athletics.

It added that early this year there was a lot of hue and cry when television stations struggled to raise money to pay for broadcast rights for the 2006 African Cup of Nations, until government came to the rescue of the state broadcaster, GTV.

The statement expressed regret that not much effort was put in by the TV stations to ensure live coverage or even delayed broadcast of the African Athletics Championships in Mauritius and many Ghanaians (except the privileged few who subscribe to DStv) have not enjoyed the luxury to watch the exploits of Gaisah and Zakari on the world stage and therefore called for a change in the downward trend.

According to the statement, the lack of regard for athletics is evident by the removal of the athletics tracks from the Ohene Djan stadium, Ghana's flagship sporting facility at the ongoing renovation works for the 2008 African Cup of Nations.

It said the relocation of the running tracks and its reallocation to the military-owned El Wak Stadium sends wrong signals to the athletics world that the sport has been downgraded in preference for football. SWAG therefore urged government to seriously consider investing in a new Olympic-size stadium in Accra capable of hosting the All Africa Games in 2011.

'If Kumasi deserves modern athletics facilities, then there is no reason why the nation's capital should be deprived of world-class facilities, particularly so when athletics enjoys greater participation and presence of more qualified coaches in Accra than anywhere else in the country.'

It added that Ghana will be participating in the 2007 All Africa Games in Algiers, the continent's version of the Olympic Games where the nation will be hoping to replicate the outstanding performance of the previous Games in Abuja, while 2008 Beijing Olympics is also barely two years away.

The statement expressed worry that Ghana today cannot boast of any running tracks or functional gymnasium for athletes to train on and it remains uncertain when the running tracks will be fixed at the El Wak stadium.

'It is a shame that Ghana has to turn to Togo to hold its national championship and prepare for international competitions. As for the Azumah Nelson Complex at North Kaneshie (named after Ghana's most distinguished sports personality), the least said about it the better.'

The 2006 World Cup proved that the government and corporate Ghana are ready to invest billions in sports to good results and certainly athletics should no longer be sacrificed on the latter with the usual excuse of "no money" mantra, adding that Athletics deserves better attention than the empty promises and lip-service to the sport.