President of the Ghana Olympic Committee (GOC), Ben Nunoo Mensah, has addressed allegations made by Deborah Acquah regarding unfulfilled promises following her participation in the 2022 Commonwealth Games.
In an interview with Joy Sports, Acquah claimed that Nunoo Mensah promised to support her Achilles injury treatment after she won a bronze medal in Birmingham, despite competing with an injury. However, she alleged that this support was never provided.
Responding to these allegations on “Game Plan” on Friday, May 17, Nunoo Mensah clarified that he did not persuade Acquah to compete with an injury. “I met her together with Mr. Karl Tuffour and she told me she had been injured for some time… but she wouldn’t even have come to the competition or she came to the competition and competed on injury. It means I am not the one who had convinced her to come to Birmingham,” he explained.
Nunoo Mensah emphasized that the GOC does not control athletes’ day-to-day activities outside international games. Regarding the support conversation, he said, “When she said she was injured, I said ‘after the competition come to Ghana. It’s likely that those who won medals will meet the president.’ The meeting with the Presidency for medal winners never happened, but we made sure that whatever money was due to her for winning the medal was given to her.”
He also mentioned that although the meeting with the Presidency did not occur, all due financial rewards were provided. Additionally, he fulfilled his promise to put Acquah on an Olympic Scholarship. “Deborah is currently on a GOC Scholarship where she gets $750 a month since after I met her,” he stated.
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