The Ministry of Youth and Sports has provided clarification that Samuel Takyi, the boxer who won bronze at the Tokyo Olympic Games, has already received $10,000 of the $20,000 promised to him by President Akufo-Addo.
The ministry has stated that the remaining half of the promised amount will only be disbursed to the 22-year-old athlete upon submission of a “good personal development plan.”
The Sports Ministry has confirmed that Takyi received the $10,000 cash and a Nissan Sunny saloon car valued at $20,000 on November 18, 2021.
Again, out of the $20,000 earmarked for his development, the ministry said Takyi came for $5000 on 16th December 2022, and most recently, another $5000 on 27th July 2023, which the boxer claimed was meant to prepare him for the Paris 2024 Olympic qualifiers.
“This implies that out of the $20,000 meant for his personal development, a balance of $10,000 is now payable to him when he presents a good personal development plan,” the statement concluded.
The ministry also insisted in parts of the statement that Samuel Takyi remains a member of the Black Bombers team preparing for the qualifiers in Dakar, Senegal, from 9-15 September 2023.
Takyi has been excluded from Ghana’s Amateur boxing team, which is preparing for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games qualifiers.
This decision was made after Takyi requested payment of the $20,000 promised to him by President Nana Akufo-Addo. Takyi, who won a bronze medal in the boxing event at the Tokyo Olympic Games in 2021, was promised a car, $10,000 in cash, and an additional $20,000 to be put towards his future by the President.
According to Bernard Quartey, the President of the Ghana Amateur Boxing Federation, Takyi’s insistence on receiving all that was promised to him before participating in the 2024 qualifiers, along with other demands, left the GBF with no choice but to drop him.
“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,” the GBF president said, 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.”
