The Amputee Football Team Captain of Ghana, Richard Arthur Openti, has indicated that the team’s visit to former President John Dramani Mahama was due to their unfulfilled opportunity to meet with President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo.
After winning the African Amputee Football Cup of Nations (AAFCON) in Egypt for the second time in a row, The Black Challenge intended to give the trophy to the president of the Republic of Ghana.
Richard Openti revealed that attempts to set up a meeting between Nana Akufo-Addo and the Ministry of Youth and Sports and the National Sports Authority were unsuccessful.
“I’ll let Ghanaians make their own judgment on what the Minister stated; I won’t comment. As disabled people, we make the most of our circumstances rather than begging. To represent our country, we play with our own efforts. When we won the first one, we were not allowed to meet the President or hand him the award.”
He claims that before they met the former president, who gave the squad a monetary donation, they were never noticed by the Sports Ministry.
“We repeatedly requested the chance to give the trophy to the President and the Minister, but we were never granted it until we met the former President, who then called us. We endure this for the sake of our country, but it is regrettable that our international colleagues receive substantial rewards for winning competitions,” remarked Openti.
Openti’s statement follows Mustapha Ussif, the Sports Minister, criticizing the team’s choice to see the former president.
The minister voiced his displeasure with the team’s choice to receive $10,000 from John Mahama, the New Democratic Congress (NDC) presidential candidate for the general elections in 2024.
