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Track & Field News of Monday, 19 September 2016

Source: Albert Ankomah

Lutterodt needs to speak on the status of Martha Bissah's scholarship

2014 Youth Olympic gold medalist, Martha Bissah 2014 Youth Olympic gold medalist, Martha Bissah

After weeks of multiple press events that a scholarship had been secured for Martha Bissah, former Ghana Athletics Association (GAA) leader, George Haldane Lutterodt needs to address questions surrounding reality of the scholarship.
The former GAA boss announced that through his efforts, a scholarship worth $32,000 dollars at a university in USA had been secured for Bissah. She is a former youth Olympics champion in the 800 meters who recently left the shores of Ghana for USA.

However, the nature of the scholarship and the ability of Bissah to compete for the University has been questioned on academic grounds. It seems the educational documents submitted by the former boss of athletics did not meet the minimum required academic standards.

Did George Lutterodt know what the minimum educational standards were and did he review and compare her documents to the minimum standards before sending them off to USA? Could Martha have been sent to a university in Ghana on a sport scholarship since entry standards are different?

If Bissah cannot participate in athletics then she will lose the USA scholarship since it is supposed to be a sports scholarship. If she loses the scholarship, supporting her will be a problem. I also wonder the implications for her immigration status in the US if she cannot work to support herself.

It is urgent that the former chairman get a handle on the situation or ask for help. Bissah's career must be salvaged.

Picture Link: http://grabghana.com/portal/cms/app/webroot/img/pictures/55dd/a7a0/55dda7a0a4984fa1a612774ec639b6b7.jpg