Ghana has received the bid to host the rebirth of the All African Sports Awards after a successful meeting between the President of the Ghana Olympic Committee (GOC) Mr Ben Nunoo Mensah and the President Association of National Olympic Committees of Africa (ANOCA) General Lassanne Palenfo in Abidjan, Cote d’Ivoire.
[ads1]The maiden event of the awards was held in Ghana on November 17, 2007 to coincide with Ghana’s golden jubilee at the Banquet Hall of the State House but unfortunately the event could not live to its expectation.
However, the GOC President proposed the idea for the reintroduction of the awards at the ANOCA Congress in Djibouti earlier this year and the proposal was forwarded to the Marketing Commission of ANOCA.
A meeting was then scheduled in Abidjan for members of the ANOCA Marketing Commission about a week ago.
As a follow up to the Abidjan meeting, the ANOCA President General Palenfo and the President of the Association of African Sports Confederation (AASC) General Ahmed Nasser would pay a working visit to Ghana in October to firm up the programme with the event coordinators.
The Awards would be managed and coordinated by Media Majique and Research Systems (MMRS) who also hosted the maiden edition in Ghana.
According to the Managing Director of MMRS, Mr Reginald Laryea, his outfit would capitalise on their experience with the first edition to host a successful event next year.
He appealed to corporate bodies to come on board as sponsors for Ghana to rewrite history in terms of event coordination and giving hope to African athletes.
The underlying objective of the Awards is to ensure that Africa’s rich sporting legacy is not left in the hands of others and that Africans are entrusted with ensuring a lasting monument in the global arena of sports.
Nominees would be drawn from the whole of Africa and every athlete who stratifies the election criteria would be considered.
Candidates would be selected based on performance ie Olympic Champion, World Champion, World Record Holder, Commonwealth Champion and Pan African Champion.