By Ken Bediako
“The Games must go on” screamed Avery Brundage, then President of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) in Munich 1972 when some Palestinian bandits disrupted the Games by killing 11 Israeli athletes. The Games eventually saw a successful end.
In the same vein, yours truly is calling for the 2023 African Games to go in Ghana as planned despite some surprisingly indiscreet campaign by a section of the Ghana media urging the nation to give up hosting the prestigious continental sports festival.
I was shocked to the marrow last Saturday to listen to a popular sports presenter on an equally popular radio station in Accra, tabling a discussion asking Ghana to give up hosting the Games.
“We don’t have facilities ready for the Games. It’s too late now and even in our present economic situation, it’s better to use the millions of money for the welfare of the suffering masses”, the presenter said.
It is uncertain whether or not the presenter was acting a devil’s advocate but he got good company except one analyst who pointed out the dangerous consequences of such an action. To my mind, a decision to abandon hosting the Games scheduled for August 2023 is not an option at all. I admit that at worst facilities should have been near completion by now but as they say, better late than never. We are still on track.
It is well known that in 2018 when Ghana won the right to host the Games, the almighty destructive Covid had not been born.
The worldwide pandemic that almost ruined the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games, forcing Japan to break tradition and shift it to 2021, was as well not kind to Ghana’s preparations for the 2023 African Games. It naturally took a long time for our beloved Third World country to set the ball rolling. There is no doubt that Ghana is racing against time, but it is clear the Local Organising Committee is working around the clock to make it happen. Work is really progressing fine at the Games site at Borteyman.
The LOC headed by Dr. Kwaku Ofosu Asare, himself a journalist knows the importance of hosting such Games and he is taking no chances to miss the boat.
I would however suggest he increases the rate of media briefings on the ongoing projects.
It is true that currently the attention of sports
lovers is on the Qatar World Cup but I would suggest the LOC arranges a major tour of ongoing facilities for the media before the World Cup starts.
After the World Cup, media briefings should be regular so the public would have a good knowledge of what to expect.
May I take this opportunity to appeal to my media colleagues to try as much as possible to emphasise on the positive aspects of sports. You know that competitive sports, is definitely for the youth and they need guidance and encouragement to see the benefits of their vocation.
Sports and Games are for pleasure and that’s what sports journalists must preach consistently. I am sure we all admire the way our counterparts in Europe and the Americas heap superlative praises on sports practitioners for excellence. All this encourages them to put up their best and in the end spectators get satisfaction for their money.
My humble suggestion to my colleagues is to leave cynicism and retrogressive commentaries to those politicians who are determined not to see anything good in their opponents.
A friend remarked cynically that a large number of those loud mouthed politicians you see on TV don’t want to be confused with facts because their minds are already made up.
In my long career as sports journalist, I have been privileged to travel worldwide to cover major international sports events including four Olympic Games Munich 1972, Montreal 1976, Seoul 1988 and Barcelona 1992. It’s all fun and excitement. Major sports gatherings like these are extremely exhilarating. You can hardly find such a congregation of able bodied youth from all over the world, in track suits, in such healthy sports competitions.
It’s always a very special occasion particularly for the host sports journalists who undertake useful networking So my fellow sports journalists should consider the 2023 African Games here as God send. They should all contribute in their own small way to make the Games successful. This is the first time in history Ghana is hosting the whole of Africa in 24 sports disciplines. I recall Ghana hosting Africa in amateur boxing and table tennis decades ago at the
Hathiramani Sports Hall in Accra only one sports discipline apiece.
Accra 2023 is definitely going to be a historic festival. Let’s make the best use of the festival and stop throwing our hands in the air that we can’t host it.
The LOC boss, a veteran broadcast
journalist, must be able to mobilise his own people to help him make the organisation of the Games successful.
Luckily the Daily Graphic, arguably the best newspaper in the country has encouraging words to spur us all to make the Games a success.
In a splendid editorial last week, “The Graphic believes that Ghana can seize the opportunity
to reorganise all sporting disciplines in the country.
In return for the huge investment being made by the government the
country expects enormous economic benefits from the Games through direct and indirect job creation enhancement of the hospitality and tourism industries as well as sports and related infrastructure
Accra 2023 should provide opportunities to build the capacity of Ghanaians in modern sports management and officiating at the highest level of international sports as trickledown effect will lead to improvement in how sporting events are organised at the district, regional and national level in the country”, the Graphic added.
Need I add more?
The Games must surely go on.
Cheers everybody and keep loving sports.
