Ghana’s top ranked taekwondo practitioner, David Koney Adjetey, has called for a new executive to run the Ghana Taekwondo Federation (GTF) to move the sport forward.
He told the Times Sports in a chat that until an election was held and a new executive voted into office, he will continue to be absent from national assignment.
Adjetey told the Times Sports he has lost interest in representing the country in international competitions due to the issues he has with the current executive led by Mr Frederick Lartey Otu.
“I am not competing for Ghana again until there are changes at the helm of affairs. It is obvious the current administration would not help in the development of the sport,” he stated.
Adjetey’s comment is coming on the back of Ghana’s inability to participate in the World Taekwondo Championships which ended in Manchester.
He said Ghana’s inability to participate in the competition was because they failed to secure visas for the athletes and not the issues of lack of sponsorship perpetrated by the current executive.
The current federation’s boss, Mr Otu, however, got a visa and travelled for the event.
“The GTF failed to secure visa for the team. I really feel bad for these players who put in a lot of work, time and sacrifices only to be disappointed by the federation,” he stressed.
Confirming Adjetey’s claims, one of the officials who was supposed to travel with the team, told the Times Sports they had to go back and forth to get a letter from the National Sports Authority for the visa.
“Due to the Australian visa saga, the NSA insisted that they needed a photo album to ensure the participants were genuine athletes. It took a while and we finally got the letter which came about two weeks to the competition, making it almost impossible to get visas for the competition,” he explained.
The world championships he said, was supposed to give the athletes the needed experience, exposure and prepare them for the African Games.
BY MICHAEL D. ABAYATEYE
