5 key highlights from Kofi Adams’ vetting as Sports Minister-designate

After weeks and months of wait, the much-anticipated vetting of Sports Minister-designate, Hon. Kofi Adams, Member of Parliament for the Buem Constituency, befell on Thursday, January 30.

Despite the controversies which have lengthy hallowed on the Sports Ministry, the vetting of the previous aide to President Jerry John Rawlings was temporary and concise.

Amid all of the noise and tempers that had flared previous to his vetting, 3Sports takes a glance again at 5 key takeaways from Kofi Adams’ vetting.

I’ll ship – Adams up for the duty

“It is the case that some say I am not part of the sports fraternity but the majority are very happy that I have been nominated.”

“I will not disappoint the President, Ghanaians, or myself; I will deliver,” he stated

Although a mammoth job awaits Kofi Adams, in a Ministry which has not been shy of controversies over time, the Minister-Designate for Sports and Recreation has expressed his readiness for the duty forward.

Holding a Bachelor of Science diploma in Zoology, Kofi Adams has not been probably the most vibrant of personalities by way of Sports.

In the lead-up to his nominations, Adams revealed his love for boxing.

Four years could also be a prolonged or a short while, relying on the place you sit however Adams’ dedication to the duty forward is an effective start line.

Focus on enhancing native league

It is an open secret how the Ghana Premier League has deteriorated and left to rot, with gamers choosing strikes all throughout Africa.

The poor circumstances within the league are in two folds: on-field, the place the situation of service for gamers, together with wage, is meagre.

Additionally, off-field issues like infrastructure deficits maintain again the progress of the league.

Adams assured underneath his governance, stipends will probably be given to retain prime abilities in Ghana.

“We talked about giving them allowances so we can retain a number of our players. Some of them leave the shores of this country to play in war-torn countries just because their earnings are so low. The whole idea is to retain players by giving them stipends. We think it will go a long way to improve the league,” he stated

If applied, the mass exodus of gamers transferring in a foreign country will probably be curtailed.

Restructuring the National Sports Authority (NSA) 

Over the previous 12 months, the National Sports Authority (NSA) has come underneath immense scrutiny for the shortage of consideration given to sports activities services in Ghana.

The NSA’s mismanagement reached its crescendo when CAF deemed none of Ghana’s stadiums match to host FIFA customary video games in October 2024.

Ideally, the position of the National Sports Authority is to function the bridge between the sports activities Ministry and the assorted federations.

Adams pledged to redefine the position of the NSA.

“The challenge we have is the NSA, which is the bridge, sometimes it’s not allowed to interface and deal with the GFA (Ghana Football Association), especially when it comes to Black Stars funding. We intend to make sure to restrategize such that NSA plays the role it is supposed to play.”

Facelift and development of normal Astro Turfs

One of the most important sporting tasks of the outgone authorities, the New Patriotic Party, was placing up Astro Turfs nationwide to enhance group sports activities.

However, Kofi Adams revealed quite a lot of substandard services have been put in place, pledging to look into the development of the services to carry them as much as customary.

“I have some concerns about the astro turfs. Some of them, truly speaking, have not been constructed to standard. In one instance, it resulted in a very serious injury to the head of a player. So, we will look at them, the ones that are not standard, in order to avoid some of these injuries. Maybe we don’t use them for football, but we can use them for other sports and recreational activities.”

Proposal of reverse pyramid program for athlete growth

Kofi Adams says he desires to get Ghana again to its glory days in sports activities, with the nation competing for the very best laurels.

In his bid to make sure Ghana attain the apex in sports activities, Kofi Adams has highlighted a reverse pyramid technique, which is able to improve grassroots sports activities growth.

“We will improve grassroots sports, and we are going to go back to the Inter Colleges days because you need to catch them and train them from that point. You don’t let them mature to a certain stage before you start investing in them, he said”

“We want the reverse of the pyramid and make sure that the pyramid stands with the base being larger and broader. Then, as it picks when it becomes commercially viable, you reduce investment,” he added

The broader plan of Adams is to scoop the most effective of expertise of their budding stage, nurture, develop and transfer them on to greater issues.