Former Minister of Sports Nii Lante Vanderpuye says he is optimistic about Ghana’s ability to “square up” against USA and other top nations at the Olympic Games for medals should attention be afforded boxing.
Ghana has won five medals at Games, with four of them coming from boxing.
Young Boxer Samuel Takyi is the most recent winner, after he claimed a bronze medal at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, which was Ghana’s first podium finish in 29 years.
He attained this feat after defeating Colombia’s 32-year-old David Ceiber Avila in the quarter-finals.
Ghana has yet to secure a medal in Football with the current situation considered ‘worrying’ as the Black Meteors have not qualified for the tournament since 2004.
Speaking on the floor of Parliament, Nii Lante Vanderpuye called for investment in the sport to propel the nation to compete with top-performing nations at the Olympics for medals.
“Boxing has achieved a lot for us. They’ve raised the flag of this country even more than football but we don’t give it the attention it deserves,” he said.
“If we could give a percentage of the attention we give to football to boxing and other sporting disciplines, maybe, we will not always be languishing at the last position on the medal table at the Olympic Games.
“We may be squaring it up with the Americans, the British, the Australians, and the Chinese on the medal table. I believe seriously that if we really want to achieve much in sports, we must be ready to invest in the sport.”
