Youth and Sports Minister Mustapha Ussif has said he cannot be held accountable for the recent Norway scandal.
A group of 11 alleged athletes travelled under the auspices of the National Paralympic Committee to participate in the Bergen Marathon in Oslo.
Upon arrival, one individual passed away, another was detained by Norwegian authorities while attempting to enter Sweden, and the remaining nine are currently at large.
President of the National Paralympic Committee-Ghana, Samson Deen revealed in a video statement that, his signature was forged on the documents used by the individuals to obtain visas.
Earlier this week, the Ministry condemned the actions of the fake para-athletes and pledged to impose “punitive measures” on those impersonating athletes.
In a press briefing at the Ministry of Youth and Sports on Wednesday, Mustapha Ussif insisted that he cannot be held responsible for the scandal, as proper procedures were not followed.
“You follow protocol by writing to the National Sports Authority, and the National Sports Authority will write to the Ministry. In this case, nothing of that sort happened until we received the news reports. We were unaware,” he stated.
“Additionally, the Norwegian authorities who issued the visas to the athletes did not verify with the Ministry to confirm whether these were genuine athletes. So, to your question of whether I will take responsibility, I’m sorry, I can’t,” he added.
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