The Minister for Youth and Sports Mustapha Ussif, has directed the Chef de Mission for Team Ghana and the International Games Committee to provide a report on the unfortunate incident leading to Ghana’s 4×100 men’s relay team’s disqualification from the final.
Ghana’s 4×100 men’s relay team was disqualified from taking part in Sunday’s final race due to a technical oversight as indicated by the Ghana Athletics Association (GAA).
Team Ghana initially listed Joseph Paul Amoah but the Ghana Athletics Association opted to replace him with Barnabas Aggerh and failed to communicate to the organizers on time about the changes.
According to the GAA, the team was disqualified per World Athletics Rule TR 24.11, “The men’s 4X100m team was disqualified per World Athletics Rule TR 24.11. In short, only athletes whose names are on the final confirmation form as starters can run during the competition.
“Ghana originally submitted its 4X100m final confirmation listing four (4) starters and a reserve about 14 hrs before the start of the race on August 5th.
“Joseph Amoah who was originally listed as a starter was subsequently ruled out of participating in the semi-final of the 4x100m on the morning of August 6th. However, in what we can only describe as an unfortunate oversight, Joseph’s withdrawal was not transmitted in time to the Technical Information Center (TIC) by our coaching crew as intended before the race”, the GAA explained why the 4×100 men’s relay team were disqualified.
The Sports Minister is unhappy about the turn of events and has charged the Chef de Mission and other officials to report to his office about the incident in a post on his social media page.
“On the earlier faux pas 4×100 final race disqualification, I’ve asked the International Games Committee and the Chef de Mission to provide an exclusive report to my office about that incident”.
He also congratulated Wahid Omar and Joseph Paul Amoah for winning the bronze medals for Ghana in their respective disciplines.
“Congratulations to Wahid Omar and Joseph Paul Amoah, who won bronze medals for Ghana in the Men’s Light Welterweight and 200m events respectively.
“I also wish Abraham Mensah and Joseph Commey the best of luck in their respective Bantamweight and Featherweight final bouts.
Meanwhile, the Chef de Mission has also directed the GAA to submit a report on the unfortunate incident.
The Management of Team Ghana at Birmingham 2022 is bitterly disappointed with events at the Commonwealth Games that robbed Ghana’s 4×100 relay team on Saturday.
“We were confident that the athletes who put in hours, months and years training for their chance at glory would get at least the opportunity to contest for a medal. We share in the disappointment of the athletes, fans and country that they were denied that opportunity as it turned out.
“The Chef de Mission of Team Ghana has requested a thorough report from the Ghana Athletics Association leadership and coaches to understand the circumstances that led to disqualification of the team — and the denial of a lifetime opportunity for the relay team.
“We are determined to get to the bottom of the issue and ensure that necessary actions are taken and the required lessons are learnt from the episode.
The GAA has also rendered an unqualified apology to the team and Ghanaians.
“GAA would like to first render an unqualified and heartfelt apology to the men’s 4X100m for the technical oversight that led to the disqualification of the team from the final of the 4X100m relay after comfortably placing 3rd overall in the semi-final.
“We also apologize to the many fans of Ghana Athletics around the world, and to the entire nation, we extend our sincere apology. Indeed, we are all heartbroken given that the men’s 4X100m and coaches have successfully participated in many international events over the past few years; including a 5th place global ranking 14 days ago at the World Athletics Championships in Eugene, Oregon (USA)”.
By Herbert Boakye Yiadom
