Lutterodt calls for revival in sports
A Former chairman of the Ghana Athletics Association (GAA), George haldane Lutterodt, says Ghana sports would collapse if the shambolic treatment meted
out to it last year is repeated this year.
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He bemoaned the lacklustre preparations towards the Commonwealth Games slated for April this year in Australia and wondered what Team Ghana was going to do at the event.
“Nigeria has had three to four major competitions in athletics in preparation towards the games, but what have we done?” Mr Lutterodt questioned in an interview with the Graphic Sports.
“I don’t think our preparation for the Commonwealth Games is anything to talk about; a disaster is going to happen,” he stated.
Reviewing the performance of sports for the year 2017, Mr Lutteordt believed sports had not done well and that the problem was set to continue in 2018 following the reduction in the sports budget from GH¢46, 910, 275 to GH¢32,799, 500.
He noted that the Ben Nunoo Mensah-led Ghana Olympic Committee (GOC) might have found themselves in a hole upon taking office but gradually dug themselves out of that hole and still needed time to roll out its programmes.
He also admonished the government to find ways of investing in sports through the sports lottery and other fundraising avenues.
“The British were making one-two medals in the Olympics; they began investing in sports and now they have 18 gold medals,” he stated.
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According to him since the BlackStars failed to qualify to the 2018 FIFA World Cup this year, government’s priority should be the Commonwealth Games and
investment in the least-financed sporting disciplines.
He called on policy makers and sports authorities to take a serious look at sports in the supreme interest of the nation.
The former sports administrator, however, praised the recent upsurge in boxing as one of the positive highlights of last year.