By Benjaman Yamoah- ACCRA- Ghana
Ghana’s Youth and Sports Minister Mustapha Ussif has revealed that the country is well positioned to consider hosting the commonwealth games slated for 2026.
As things stand now, the 2026 edition of the Commonwealth Games is in limbo, as Malaysia declined an offer to host the global competition due to cost concerns.
Malaysia Minister of Youth and Sports Hannah Yeoh said that the government made the decision after concluding that the Commonwealth Games Federation’s offer of 100 million pounds ($126.21m) in supporting funds would not cover the entire cost.
“The government wants to focus on the development of sports as well as the welfare and well-being of the people,” Yeoh said in a statement.
The proposal had received a mixed response in Malaysia amid concerns over the economy and bread-and-butter issues, including a sharp decline in the value of the ringgit.
Malaysia’s Olympic Council had previously proposed hosting a scaled-down version of the event.
But speaking in an exclusive interview GHONE TV‘s sports show, Mustapha Ussif indicated Ghana is well positioned to host the commonwealth Games on the back of successfully hosting the African Games.
Mustapha Ussif revealed that the President of the Commonwealth Games was in Ghana recently.
“In fact, the President of the Commonwealth Games was in Ghana recently, and we held several meetings with him. He visited our facilities for the African Games and was impressed. They want an African nation to host the games.”
He further revealed Ghana is well positioned to host the rest of the Commonwealth nations in the Commonwealth Games after successfully hosting the rest of Africa in the recently ended African Games.
“We have the existing facilities to host the Commonwealth Games, plus it won’t cost us much to host the games as compared to how much it cost us to host the African games if we decide to”.
“The Commonwealth Games secretariat even gives the host nation money unlike the African Games where the host solely funds every expenditure for the games, so Ghana can host it if we decide to do it,” Mustapha Ussif said.
Ghana hosted the multi sports African Games for the first time in the games history in March 2024.
