Asantehene Urges Sports Minister to Prioritize All Sports, Not Just Football

Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, Asantehene has observed the worrying limitation of sports to just football, at the expense of other equally important sporting disciplines in Ghana.

In an interaction with the newly appointed Minister for Sports and Recreation, Kofi Adams, at the Manhyia Palace on February 14, 2025, His Majesty counselled him to give due attention to sports like tennis, races, boxing, basketball and arm-wrestling.

According to him, the country possesses the talent in all these fields to enable it excel on the global stage.

“These days sports have been narrowed to football. In Ghana, all the focus is on football but there are several others. Back in school, we were into the high jump, races and all the other sports during Inter-College competitions. We always looked up to it because it was fun. Some of these talents earned scholarships to study in advanced countries.”

Scouting
Otumfuo recalled that at the time, the country’s national teams excelled at tournaments since pure talents were obtained from the grassroots level through scouting.

“Young talents were scouted from Interschool and intercommunity level football matches in our localities. At the time, Ghana was winning more medals at global competitions. Let’s bring that approach back.”

Counsel
The Minister was at the Palace to seek the counsel and direction of His Majesty as he sets out on his Ministerial duties following his swearing-in last week.

“President Mahama has given me the mandate to head the Sports Ministry. I couldn’t just wake up and start. I need counsel and direction especially as FIFA has restrained us from interfering so much in sports. I will need your direction on which areas to touch.”

He said that the state of the country’s sport was so dire that he needed counsel from His Majesty in order to succeed, adding that all past Presidents had tapped into the wisdom of the King to effortlessly run the country.

Confidence
Otumfuo expressed confidence in his leadership over the Ministry saying, “When President appointed you, I knew you were capable. I know you commit yourself to whatever you lay your hands on.”

Source: opemsuo.com/HajaraFuseini