Ghana’s amateur boxing team, the Black Bombers look set to miss out on this year’s African Boxing Championships.
Cameroun are scheduled to host the competition from June 13-25, 2023.
The Ghana Boxing Federation informed JoySports the Ministry of Sports agreed to fund the $70,000 bill for the Championships. But with only five days left to the tournament, the ministry has had a change of heart.
“We are supposed to leave on June 10. The minister assured us, but when we followed up, he said the ministry’s priority now, is to fund qualification to major tournaments,” the GBF’s communications director told Joy Sports.
“But we were able to dialogue with the NSA Director-General to convince him it [Championships] is a preparatory grounds for us to test the readiness of the boxers to meet their other African opponents, whom they’ll meet at the Olympic qualifiers.
“They see the Olympic qualifiers as more of a priority than the African Championships, so we are not sure of going.”
Meanwhile, the team’s preparations for the Championships have not been ideal, with Ofosu Asare, their head coach, and the GBF president resorting to private funds and resources to fund national team training.
Source: Myjoyonline