The Minister of Youth and Sports, Mustapha Ussif has reached an anti-doping testing agreement with the Egyptian Ministry of Sports.
Hon. Ussif paid a courtesy call on Prof. Ashraf Sobhy, the Egyptian Minister for Sports whilst attending Management Board Meetings and the World Anti-Doping Agency Foundation event.
The discourse between the pair centered on many areas of mutual benefits including the blood sampling test for doping control activities. An agreement was reached for free blood sample testing for Ghanaian athletes at all times as the two countries seek to boost their relationship in sports.
Ghana will send blood samples of athletes for doping control to Egypt for free testing in accordance with the agreement.
Athletes are tested all over the world to ensure compliance with sports’ anti-doping regulations.
Prof. Sobhy informed Hon. Ussif that Egypt has acquired a blood sampling test kit, which is more reliable than urine the urine sampling method adopted by a lab in South Africa and would assist Ghana in running tests for free. South Africa is the only African country with an accredited lab that accepts urine samples.
The Egyptian Minister is also willing to share their sports development models to help Ghana in repositioning its sports sector to maximize the sector’s benefits, as requested by Hon. Ussif.
Egypt’s sports sector budget is currently over $300 million, with half coming from the central government and the other half generated internally through sporting activities and facilities usage.
“Egypt has structured its sports sector to attract significant investment across the sporting disciplines so I will consider the relationship between the two countries and support you with the necessary exchange programs and technical support to ensure your country reaps massively from sports,” the Egypt Sports Minister stated.
Mustapha Ussif was thankful for his reception in Egypt and assured the minister of a continuous cordial relationship between the two countries.
Hon. Ussif is currently in Cairo, Egypt as a Foundation Board member representing the Sub-Sahara region at the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) conference.
He is the first Ghanaian Minister for Youth and Sports to be appointed to the board.
He is scheduled to speak at the conference regarding Ghana’s progress on the Anti-Doping Bill, which is currently being prepared for presentation to Parliament, as well as give an update on Ghana’s preparations for the 13th African Games in 2023.
The platform will also be used by the Minister to solicit technical and equipment support for the African Games and Ghana’s Anti-Doping Committee.
Hon. Ussif was in the company of the Chairman of the Parliamentary Select Committee on Health who doubles as the Anti-Doping Committee Chairman of Ghana, Hon. Dr. Nana Ayew Afrieye.