Minister of Youth and Sports, Honorable Mustapha Ussif, has debunked claims about Ghana’s desire to host the 2026 Commonwealth Games.
This comes after calls from the general public, claiming Ghana is in pole position to accept the bid to host the 2026 Commonwealth after hosting the 2023 African Games.
However, Hon Mustapha Ussif has claimed that the stories circulating across the nation, as per Multimedia’s Atsu Tamakloe, has no truth in it and it’s a ploy to cause disaffection for him, terming it ‘inaccurate’ and ‘malicious’.
Speculations about Ghana’s bid to host the 2026 Commonwealth games, which intended host Australia pulled out, was heightened by the visit of The President of the Commonwealth Games, Dame Louise Livingstone Martin, to Ghana.
In an exclusive interview with GhOne, the Minister responded by saying the visit of the President of the Commonwealth was an opportunity he leveraged on in showcasing Ghana’s state-of-the-art facilities to her, amongst other issues.
Furthermore, the Minister emphasized that Ghana’s provision of state-of-the-art facilities for the African Games indicates the country’s readiness to host monumental events like the Commonwealth Games without significant additional expenditure.
However, he did not imply that Ghana has submitted a bid or held discussions to host the Commonwealth Games, putting to bed the fears and growing frustrations amongst some Ghanaians amidst financial crisis. The Minister has since then gone on to demand Multimedia to retract the story and render an apology.
Nonetheless, The Commonwealth Games, which was supposed to be hosted by Australia in March, 2026, is yet to find new hosts after the Oceanians pulled out due to high cost of living in their country, leaving the next alternative host, Malaysia, to withdraw as well.
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Story by: Andrews Sefa Bamfo| univers.ug.edu.gh
