The Chief Executive of the Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA), Mr Mohammed Adjei Sowah, says his outfit will embark on a massive sports development this year, starting with a hunt for football talents to make good use of the numerous artificial pitches constructed within the metropolis.
Mr said numerous talents abound in the metropolis and despite the low sports budget that his outfit operates with, he was determined to make judicious use of resources at his disposal.
“This year, we are going to embark on a talent hunting drive, particularly football. We have recruited a lot of talents in swimming, arm-wrestling, basketball and in some of the other least financed sporting disciplines, so it is the time for football,” he told the Graphic Sports last Wednesday.
The AMA boss revealed also that his outfit was actively working with the sports federations in the region through mobilising monies for their programmes and to support athletes.
“We will liaise with the GFA to get the best talents for Greater Accra to augment our team for the upcoming district sports festival,” he noted.
Mr Sowah revealed that his outfit was looking at a policy on the use of sporting facilities in the metropolis that would ensure that pupils and young talents have access to the artificial pitches without being made to pay huge user fees.
“These pitches are sometimes built on school compounds and communities where they are a lot of children who can’t afford to pay and use it, so we will try and get a standardised fee to make it affordable for the students to use.”
Disabled sports, he emphasised, were part of the AMA’s plans for which the assembly would seek the support of corporate bodies to give disabled athletes opportunities to develop their talents as well.
“We have a new sports minister who is energetic and hardworking and whose pre-occupation is to harness talents for the Africa Games in 2023, so the AMA will liaise with his outfit to get the best athletes for the country,” he promised.
