AU gives Ghana 2 weeks to declare readiness for African Games

The African Union (AU) has given Ghana two weeks to fix the actual dates to stage the African Games (AG).

The Games had earlier been scheduled to run from Aug. 4 to Aug. 19, 2023 but the host country is yet to approve the date, as the actual state of its facilities are yet to be ascertained.

Ghana will be hosting the Games for the first time, even as there are opposition against the country staging the Games.

A statement by Tony Nezianya, Public Relations Officer of the Nigeria Olympic Committee (NOC), stated that AU had mandated stakeholders in African Sports to ascertain the readiness of Ghana to host the Games.

The statement quoted Habu Gumel, the Treasurer-General of Association of National Olympic Committees of Africa (ANOCA), saying “they have been given two weeks to carry out the exercise and fix the actual dates to stage the Games”.

Gumel who was in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, for the AU meeting said that a detailed inspection would be conducted of Accra, Kumasi, and Cape Coast, where the venues and facilities for the Games are located and to ascertain their state of readiness for the Games.

He said stakeholders used the opportunity provided by the meeting to resolve the problems facing the main stakeholders – the Union of Africa Sports Confederations (UCSA), ANOCA, and the Africa Association of Sports Confederation (AASC).

The presidents of ANOCA, Moustaph Berraf; UCSA/AASC, Maj.-Gen. Ahmed Nasser, and the Chairman of the AU Commission, Musa Faki signed the relevant documents that assigned them roles to play to ensure the success of the Games.

“ANOCA’s presence among stakeholders is particularly important, as an affiliate of the Olympic Movement to ensure the Games serves largely as an Olympic qualification event.”

Meanwhile, Chairman of the Organising Committee, Kwaku I cf gosu Asare has urged Ghanaians to support the staging of the Games as it will cost as much to host as not to host.