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Other Sports of Saturday, 16 August 2014

Source: Sammy Heywood Okine

B.T. Baba wants probe into Commonwealth Games 2014

Benson Tongo Baba, former President of the Ghana Olympic Committee (GOC) has called for the need to probe activities of the GOC after the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, Scotland.
Speaking to the media, Baba said, “if it was true that, the GOC took money from Government for the competition, then they must be held accountable by the Government.
“From the reports I heard from Glasgow and all the allegations, I think it will be appropriate for the government to look into the matter as well.”
According to Baba, the GOC is supposed to be an autonomous body, hence should not receive any funding from government for their activities.
He however noted that, they are obliged to be held accountable by government, if they receive funding from government.
Baba said, the International Olympic Committee (IOC), will not under any circumstance impose any sanction on the Ghana, if steps are taken to investigate the GOC adding that “once you take money from government, you should accountable to them”.
He said the government was probing the Ghana Football Association (GFA) because they received funding from the government adding that a similar thing should be done for the GOC.
He said the challenges encountered by Ghana at the Commonwealth Games were due to lack of collaboration between the GOC and the National Sports Authority (NSA).
“It looks as if the GOC operated in isolation and it could be the main reason why they had a lot of issues in Glasgow”.
He stated his outfit never received funding from government during their term of office hence were not obliged to account to them but rather he IOC.