Golden Arms need $42,000 to compete in Africa Armwrestling Championship
The Ghana Armwrestling Federation (GAF) would need in excess of $42,000 to enable the national armwrestling team, the Golden Arms, to participate in the upcoming Africa Armwrestling Championship in Abuja, Nigeria, Mr Charles Osei Asibey, President of the federation, has disclosed.
The amount, he explained, would cater for essential expenses like transportation, feeding, accommodation, equipment, competition fees, and other logistical costs.
Consequently, the federation has launched a campaign calling on corporate and state institutions as well as spirited individual to support the Golden Arms’ participation in the upcoming 14th African Armwrestling championship.
Speaking to The Times Sports yesterday, Mr Asibey said the team is barely two weeks to arrive for the five-day competition slated for July 23-27 at the Mashood Abiola National Stadium in Abuja.
It will attract about 400 armwrestlers from over 20 countries with the host nation expected to field the largest squad.
The Ghanaian are going as defending champions after dominating the likes of Nigeria and Egypt in the previous edition hosted in Accra.
Preparation-wise, he emphasised, Ghana’s contingent of 20 athletes and four officials have had the best of preparation, having commenced training as far back as February and are poised to deliver an outstanding performance on the African stage.
The Golden Arms, he said, boasts of an impressive track record, having won a total of 350 international medals in five African championships and a World Championship, and also led the charge to save Ghana during the last Africa Games.
Mr Asibey underlined that, “We admit, it is not smooth economically but there should be a way. It is a challenging situation and we at GAF calls on Ghanaians, corporate organisations, and government agencies to contribute to our tireless effort to ensure we compete and win.”
He then urged the Ghana Olympic Committee (GOC), the Ministry of Sports and Recreation (MoSR) to come to their aid as well as private organisations and individuals.
BY ANDREW NORTEY
