Ghana Athletics Communications Director, Charles Osei Asibey has dismissed viral claims suggesting that athletes competing in the 100m men’s heats at the ongoing 2026 African Senior Athletics Championships in Accra had to rely on nearby screens or visual checks to determine their finishing positions.

In an interview with Sporty FM, Charles Osei Asibey responded to concerns about technical issues with result displays and timing systems at the University of Ghana Stadium, describing the circulating narrative as inaccurate and deliberately misrepresented.

“Let me respond to a viral video. I’ve seen some posts suggesting that athletes had to watch their opponents to determine who was first to take their positions. Respectfully, it’s false,” he said.

“That’s why I feel that some of these stories are fabricated, deliberately fabricated.”

He explained that a separate video involving team Ghana’s coaching staff, including coach Eric had been misinterpreted on social media.

According to him, the coach had recorded race footage on his phone strictly for internal review ahead of a possible protest, not to determine official race results.

“Eric Nkansah, as coach of Team Ghana, got the race videoed on their phone. After the race, they wanted to launch a protest. So he sat with Joe Paul and the guys, and they were trying to see what went wrong,” Asibey explained.

“Only for journalists to pick up this and put it on social media to say that they needed that video to check their position.”

He further clarified that official results were determined through the photo finish system, which he said delivered outcomes almost immediately after each race.

“Truth is that by the time the race ended, I knew it wouldn’t come up. In less than 30 seconds, I got the results from the photo finish,” he said.

Asibey added that the photo finish system feeds directly into the technical results centre before being officially published, making it the sole authoritative source for race outcomes.

“Normally, the photo finish will send the results to TIC before it is published. So nobody at the finishing line will be able to determine who the winner is,” he added.

Watch highlights from Day two of the African Athletics Championships





PAH/JE