President John Dramani Mahama believes that Ghana can recapture the glory in sports if the right infrastructure and investment is put into developing all sporting disciplines.
Speaking at the opening of the newly built boxing arena at Bukom in Accra, the President said “it is time for Ghana to take its rightful place as a continental giant in all sports not only football.â€
He added that, the country must recapture the past glory days when sporting heroes candled the nation with a strong sense of national pride.
That he said could be achieved with the Trust Sports Emporium which provides the platform for all sporting disciplines to excel.
“Those days can return by investments in the sporting sector and the multipurpose sports facility at Bukom would help unearth talents in Ghana,†he stated.
He believes that, Ghana would reclaim its sports greatness by encouraging education and sports as the facility also has a school where children would be engaged in academic activities in the morning and train in the afternoon after school.
He added that the Emporium provides space for several sporting disciplines including boxing, table tennis, lawn tennis, swimming, basketball, handball, volleyball and netball.
President Mahama said, investing in the future includes developing sports and the Bukom arena would ensure that Ghana wins laurels at the international stage as done in the past.
Bukom he said, for decades has produced most of Ghana’s sporting heroes who won several international laurels including D.K Poison, Azumah Nelson, Ike Quartey, Joshua Klottey and Nana Konadu.
“Government has identified that part of the reasons for our sporting decline has been the lack of adequate infrastructure and training equipment for our sports men and women and have subsequently moved to address this problem,†he stated.
Government he said must provide all the necessary resources and infrastructure to unearth and train sporting talents that Ghana is blessed with.
The President is hopeful the facility would serve the purposes with which it was built not only for sports but contribute to the total development of the country.
The event was opened with an entertaining bout which saw Sherif Quaye beat Benjamin Lamptey to win the National Light Weight Championship title.
The two boxers entertained guests to some electrifying piece of boxing but Sherif managed to win the tile by a split decision.
Judges scored the bout, 116-112, 113-115 and 113-117 in favour of the Black Panthers Gym boxer, Sherif who ensured his opponent tasted his first defeat.
Sherif who went into the bout with nine wins and a draw kept his composure his opponent began the fight on a very bright note.
But the eventual winner took over from the sixth round and gave Lamptey the fight with some great jabs which drew cheers from the crowd.
The President however congratulated the boxers for their exploits and optimistic that it sets the stage for other interesting bouts to be hosted at the arena.
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