Youth and Sports Minister Designate Mustapha Ussif has promised to give equal attention to sports disciplines once he becomes substantive Minister.
He made this statement when he took his turn before the vetting committee on Thursday, February 25; he is widely expected to be named the head of the Ministry and take over from immediate past Minister Isaac Asiamah.
Despite the emphatic promise, the backend of his statement indicating football will take precedence as has been the case under past Ministers.
“I will be a Minister for all sporting disciplines but we also have to understand the strengths. In Jamaica, they focus on athletics because that is their strength” he stated.
Football is Ghana’s biggest sport and attracts the most funds from all stakeholders including government beyond funds allocated to the sector in the national budget.
However, the growth of other sports disciplines like basketball, volleyball, table tennis, badminton among others have been seriously hampered by the chronic lack of funds.
Ghana missed out on competing in the pre-qualifiers for the 2021 AfroBasket qualifiers as a $100,000 budget couldn’t be funded.
By Yaw Adjei-Mintah
@YawMintYM on Twitter
