The Ministry of Youth and Sports has entreated all embassies and consulate offices in Ghana to, henceforth, verify all visa requests for sporting competitions and tournaments with the Ministry.
This, according to the Ministry, is part of measures to avoid the similar occurrence of the latest incident of absconding on the part of some Ghanaian para-athletes in Europe.
The athletes, 10 in all, and their coach are reported to have travelled to Norway for the Fjordkraft Bergen City Marathon.
However, they failed to register for the event upon arrival in Oslo and rather absconded.
One of them, Nana Antwi, was reportedly arrested while attempting to depart to Sweden with one-way train ticket.
The coach, George Gyamfi Gyasi, is reported to have collapsed and later died in an Oslo hospital.
Reacting to the reports, which were contained in a brief from the Ministry of National Security, the Ministry Youth and Sports said the incident does not define the “dedication” and “integrity” of the sports fraternity.
“Our athletes and officials have consistently showcased remarkable discipline and commitment to sporting excellence, bringing pride and joy to our nation at several international competitions.”
The Ministry, therefore, stressed that appropriate punitive measures will be meted out to whoever is found culpable as investigations have already been launched into the incident.
“Measures would be strengthened to avoid the occurrence of similar incidents in future.
“The Ministry of Youth and Sports takes this opportunity to entreat Embassies and Consulate Offices in the country to verify visa requests for sporting competitions and tournaments with the Ministry, especially those purporting to represent the country in a national capacity.”
Source:onuaonline.com