Black Bombers head coach Ofori Asare has denied claims that Ghana sent injured boxers to the Commonwealth Games, saying none of the athletes travelled to the tournament while carrying an injury.
Asare rejected the allegations during an interview with Sporty TV, insisting that the condition of the team’s boxers was not the reason for Ghana’s disappointing campaign.
The coach also explained that he had no part in selecting the squad for the Games. He said he joined the team only after the Ghanaian boxing federation had chosen the athletes and invited them to camp.
“I was just given the team, and I didn’t play a role in selecting the boxers. I only came in to train them after they had been selected,” he said.
Asare was asked why he had not been involved in the selection process despite being the head coach of the Black Bombers. He said he could not explain the federation’s decision.
He suggested, however, that the squad had probably been selected on the basis of performances at the national championship. Winners and runners-up at that competition were understood to have earned places in the Commonwealth Games team.
The coach’s comments come after suggestions that some of Ghana’s representatives had entered the tournament without being fully fit. Asare strongly dismissed that view, maintaining that none of the boxers went to the Games with injuries.
He also addressed reports concerning his coaching qualifications. Asare clarified that he is not the only internationally certified boxing coach in Ghana, but said he currently holds the highest coaching qualification among his fellow coaches in the country.
Despite the team’s underwhelming results at the Commonwealth Games, Asare said he had believed before the competition that some members of the squad were capable of challenging for medals.
His confidence was based on what he had seen during training in the build-up to the Games. According to the experienced trainer, several boxers had shown enough quality and consistency in camp to suggest they could compete successfully.
“They were performing very well, so I believed some of them were capable of winning medals,” he added.
Asare’s defence focuses on two issues surrounding Ghana’s campaign: the fitness of the boxers who travelled and the process used to select the team. While rejecting claims that injured athletes were sent to the competition, he made clear that the final squad had already been chosen before he took charge of preparations.
The Black Bombers coach said his role was therefore limited to training the selected boxers once they had arrived in camp, rather than deciding which athletes would represent Ghana at the Commonwealth Games.
