Grassroot sports: We are motivated to do more after recent success - Sports Minister

The Minister of Youth and Sports, Mustapha Ussif, says the recent successes chalked within the sports sector has encouraged a rapid shift in focus to more grassroot football development rather than promotion at the apex.

Taking his turn at the government's Meet the Press series yesterday in Accra, Mustapha Ussif highlighted some recent international feats Ghana has chalked in

Read full articlesports, s adding that the nation must strive to win more through by focusing on developing sports at the base.

Among recent successes the Minster listed were: the Black Satellites winning the Africa Under 20 Football Championship, Team Ghana's impressive performance at Tokyo 2020 Olympics with the highlight being the nation's first Olympic medal in nearly 30 years through boxer Samuel Takyi, the rise of athletics, the qualification of the Black Stars to the World Cup, among others.

Mustapha Ussig added that rather being swollen-headed and complacent by the above, the Ministry is focusing on greater attention to sports development at the grassroot level to ensure more laurels in the future.

"The fundamental push is to shift from sports promotion to sports development to ensure that we maintain this level and even surpass it with more success," Mustapha Ussif said.

He explained that the new focus is all-encompassing, which the Ministry and its stakeholders will tackle various aspects of sports development.

"It is all-embracing and holistic development: grass root participation, succession planning, mprovement of facilities, access to equipment and logistics, and the ennhancement of the entire sports value chain."

The Minister reiterated government's commitment to providing adequate financial support, but added that this will be done alongside effective costing and auditing of all sporting activities to ensure value for money in the course of developing sports.

Corporate support, the Minister noted, is key to complementing government's funding efforts in sports development. He therefore, urged corporate Ghana to come on board as partners for sports development.

Mustapha Ussif ceased the opportunity to give an update all national stadia under construction.

He explained that the facilities are being renovated in phases, with the the third Phase of rehabilitation work of the Accra Stadium at 98% complete.

In Kumasi, the first phase of the Baba Yara Stadium renovation is 98% complete, while the Cape Stadium is at 60% of phase one.

The Essipong Sports Stadium, which is one of facility undergoing major restructuring work, is currently undergoing what the Minister described as structural renovation, and the current phase of the facility is 90% complete.