By S. Siapha Mulbah
As the All-African Games sets to officially kick off Friday March 8, 2024 in three cities in Ghana, the fate of Liberian athletes expected to participate in the event remains hanging in limbo as the symptom of ‘No Money’ covers their financial quest to represent the country.
A total of 21 Liberian athletes in boxing, taekwondo, table tennis, and athletics, gained qualification and invitation to participate in the competition to represent the country, but the lack of funding, as reported by the Liberia National Olympic Committee, seams to be the biggest factor that will ruin their opportunities for participation.
The Olympic Committee said it has a financial constraint to cover the cost of taking the Liberian delegation to the competition after communicating with the Government of Liberia through the Ministry of Youth and Sports.
In a conversation with this paper, the Vice president of the Olympic Committee, Malcolm Joseph, revealed that the authorities of the committee submitted a budget to the sports ministry concerning the competition, but there has been no intervention made as the competition kicks off this weekend in Ghana.
According to Joseph, there are series of challenges faced by the Olympic Committee and the lack of government intervention to have the Liberian teams and all members of the delegation in Ghana before the start of the 13th All Africa Games will become a serious impediment to the sporting community, stressing the need for Liberia’s participation to the all-African competition, emphasizing that it is important for countries in the pool of participation to take advantage of the event as it promotes interactions and engagement with others across the continent for prospective sports development.
He furthered that if the government fails to provide the funding required by the budget submitted to the Ministry of Youth and Sports, the nation will be kicked out of the games’ village, which will have an effect on the teams and athletes.
Joseph noted that due to essentiality of the country’s participation, the Olympic committee was compelled to credit funds from some other partners to have the advance team leaving for Ghana yesterday.
The president of the Liberia taekwondo Federation and other officials of different sporting disciplines are also rallying support to have the athletes going to Ghana as soon as possible, to be able to take part in the competition with other neighbors and continental siblings.
Master Junior Pewee Russian informed this paper that the Taekwondo is one of the sporting federations in the country that has brought pride to the country on many occasions, but still finds it difficult to get the necessary supports, especially in international competitions.
According to Master Russian, his federation has prepared for the All-African Games for more that one month and the athletes are ready to compete and hold talks with other stakeholders across the continent, but the lack of financial support and delay in response poses serious problems to the federation.
He said the date for the delegation’s departure has been postponed on different occasions, and the athletes are dissatisfied after being informed that Liberia will not have a full participation at the African Olympics on Friday, March 8, 2024.
The former Liberian Taekwondo athlete, now administrator, called on other well-meaning Liberians, institutions, and organizations, to support the delegation with financial and other assistances that will enable them to go to Ghana for the prestigious African competition.
