Veteran sports journalist, Don Summer the host of Angel 96.1 Sports, has strongly criticised NSA Director-General Yaw Ampofo Ankrah over the conditiom of the Baba Yara Sports Stadium pitch following Friday’s Democracy Cup clash between Hearts of Oak and Asante Kotoko.
Ampofo Ankrah had acknowlxedged that the pitch was not ready for the fixture but explained that the authorities were forced to use the stadium. His comments have sparked further debate about the management of Ghana’s sporting facilities, with Don Summer questioning why the NSA boss appears to be offering explanations for problems he already knew existed before taking office.
“Before your appointment as NSA Director, you knew all the problems we were facing because you were also a journalist who had criticised these issues before. Before you took office, we didn’t have a single FIFA-accepted stadium. So, you knew you were coming into office to fix a problem, but you are here giving excuses.”
Don Summer said Ampofo Ankrah’s current position should be about finding solutions to the challenges facing Ghana’s sporting infrastructure rather than explaining why those challenges persist.
“The truth is, Yaw, you are disgracing us as journalists. You are on the verge of becoming one of those journalists who disappoint when given the opportunity to serve the nation, together with Veronica Commey.”
The veteran journalist also referred to his previous defence of former NSA boss Professor Twumasi, arguing that the challenges facing the country’s stadiums cannot be separated from the availability of government funding.
“I defended Professor Twumasi behind this same microphone because I knew the problem was not the professor. He couldn’t use his pocket money to take care of our pitches. He needed funding from the top, and if the money wasn’t coming, there was only so much he could do with our pitches.”