NSA Director-General with some boxing officials
The Committee for Professional Boxing in Ghana has rejected the Interim Management Committee (IMC) to replace the current Ghana Boxing Authority (GBA) Executive Board in running professional boxing in Ghana.
The committee has also criticised the decision to suspend all boxing activities following the demise of professional boxer Ernest Akushey aka Bahubali.
The Ministry of Sports and Recreation dissolved the board of the GBA, replacing it with an Interim Management Committee (IMC) which is expected to be inaugurated in the coming days.
But the Committee for Professional Boxing has criticised the decision, noting thar the NSA has overstepped its boundaries with its decision to replace the current board with an interim management committee.
The Committee in a statement noted that “the NSA has no such mandate since the GBA is governed by a constitution and it is only the congress of the GBA that has the power to elect board members to supervise professional boxing in the country.”
It further argues that the decision of the NSA “is a complete overthrow of the GBA constitution and for that matter cannot be countenanced.”
On the suspension of all boxing activities, the Committee noted that all decisions to be taken concerning professional boxing in Ghana should be within the remits of the GBA constitution and not in the manner in which the NSA seeks to micromanage the GBA.
“We therefore, find the purported suspension of boxing activities and the replacement of the GBA board highly irrational and unlawful,” the statement added.
THE NATIONAL Sports Authority (NSA), in consultation with the Ministry of Sports and Recreation, announced the immediate suspension of all boxing activities in Ghana after the tragic death of professional boxer Ernest “Bahubali” Akushey last week.
The decision, officials say, is aimed at prioritising the safety, health, and welfare of athletes in the sport.
Akushey’s passing came just months after the death of Nigerian boxer Gabriel Oluwasegun Olanrewaju, which had already triggered a ministerial review into safety standards in Ghanaian boxing.
According to the NSA, preparations had already been completed to roll out reforms recommended by the Ministerial Committee on Boxing.
BY Gibril Abdul Razak