Ghanaian boxer Samuel Takyi has asked President Nana Akufo Addo to fulfil his promise of giving him the $20,000 he promised him when he won a medal for Ghana at the last edition of the Olympics Games held in Tokyo.
The young man has stated vehemently that this is the only condition that will entice him to join Ghana’s boxing team for the 2024 Olympic Games qualifiers. Takyi made history at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics by securing a bronze medal, ending Ghana’s 29-year drought for an Olympic medal. Ghana has only won four medals since the inception of the Olympic Games, with three of them coming from boxing.
Takyi’s remarkable achievement in Tokyo made him the fifth Ghanaian to win a medal for the country at the Olympics. As a reward for his outstanding performance, President Akufo-Addo presented Takyi with a car and $30,000, with $10,000 in cash and $20,000 allocated to his career development fund.
However, it has recently come to light that Takyi is demanding the remaining $20,000 before he participates in the 2024 Olympic Games qualifiers. As a result of his demands, the President of the Ghana Amateur Boxing Federation, Bernard Quartey, has announced that Takyi has been dropped from the Black Bombers team for the qualifiers.
“He was also demanding the money that was pledged by the president [Akufo-Addo] is $20,000 which was supposed to be used as a developmental fee for him,” he stated, as quoted by Ghanaweb.
“Secondly, he demanded that before he joined the team, he should be given an Olympic Scholarship. These are the conditions he demanded but we don’t have the power to dictate it. He is welcome to join but not with conditionalities.
“Looking at the situation, the coach thought it wise that he was not prepared psychologically. We are going with this team and if someone in his weight qualifies it means we have to find another weight for him at the next qualifies.”
