The organizers of the ongoing Commonwealth Games in Birmingham have disqualified Ghana’s 4x100m men’s relay team despite reaching the final.
Sean Safo-Antwi, Benjamin Azamati, Barnabas Ageh, and Abdul Rasheed Saminu finished third and earned automatic qualification to the final with a time of 39.05 seconds.
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However, they were disqualified.
According to organisers, Ghana did not list Abdul Rasheed Saminu as the anchor leg runner, but rather Joseph Paul Amoah.
The Ghana Athletics Association decided to withdraw Amoah from the relay so that he could concentrate on the 200m final scheduled for Saturday evening.
The rule states that changes to a team’s lineup must be confirmed at least one hour before the race. Ghana failed to notify organizers of their change, resulting in disqualification.
"The composition of a team and the order of running for a relay shall be officially declared no later than one hour before the published first call time(the time by which the athlete must be present in the call room) for the first heat of each round of the competition. Further alterations must be verified by a medical officer appointed by the organisers and may be made only until the final call time.(the time at which the athletes are listed to depart the call room) for the particular heat in which the team is competing.
The team shall compete as named and in the declared order."
If a team does not follow this rule, it shall be disqualified.
Earlier on Saturday, Abigail Kwarteng finished fifth in the women’s high jump final after failing to clear a height of 1.92 on three attempts, and Rose Yeboah finished seventh after failing to clear a height of 1.89.
Ghana has won three medals so far in Birmingham, two more than they did in Gold Coast four years ago.