The Youth Employment Agency (YEA) has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the National Sports Authority (NSA) to extend the monthly stimulus packages given to 1000 athletes for another six months.
According to Mr Justin Kodua Frimpong, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the YEA, the athletes would receive a monthly allowance of GHC500 as part of measures to support them due to the global COVID-19 pandemic.
The allowance package to athletes which started from June to December 2020, has been extended to June 2021.
Speaking at the signing of the MoU on Wednesday, Mr Kodua Frimpong maintained that 500 slots would go to the Ghana Football Association (GFA) while 400 and 100 beneficiaries would go to the Ghana Olympic Committee (GOC) and National Paralympic Committee (NPC) respectively.
“The YEA started this program to support athletes financially who have been hardly hit by the COVID-19 pandemic in the country and this has been a relief to the beneficiaries”.
Mr. Kodua Frimpong hinted that the program was subject to renewal after the six months elapsed adding that, his outfit was satisfied with the outcome.
He stated that beneficiaries have been paid up till February 2021, with March outstanding.
Professor Peter Twumasi, the Director-General of the NSA, lauded the initiative and said the list would be reviewed if a current beneficiary was employed.
Mr. Mustapha Ussif, Minister of Youth and Sports said sports would be developed and improved adding that, the program would yield the needed results.
He was optimistic Ghanaian athletes will excel and win laurels at the Olympic and Paralympic Games in Tokyo, Japan this year.
He appealed to the beneficiaries to not take the program for granted but to focus on their training to represent the country on the international front.