"The Norway Embassy Were Not Prudent": Sports Minister on Absconded Para Athletes
- The Sports Minister, Mustapha Ussif, has reacted to the disappearance of a group of 'fake' para-athletes in Norway
- Nine persons out of an 11-member team have absconded after arriving in Oslo for a competition
- The athlete secured visas to Norway after forging documents and signatures from the Ministry and NPC
Ghana's Minister of Youth and Sports, Honourable Mustapha Ussif, has blamed the Norwegian Embassy for not doing due diligence in handing out visas to the 'fake para-athletes' that absconded following their arrival in Oslo.
The West African nation has been hit with yet another visa scandal after an 11-member team disappeared after arriving in Norway for a sporting event.
One person has been arrested with the coach of the team, George Gyamfi Gyasi, reportedly collapsing and passing away subsequently.
Source: Twitter
This has left the media asking questions over the disappearance of the team, who were accused of forging documents and signatures to acquire visas.
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During a meeting with the media in Accra, the Sports Minister criticised the Norwegian Embassy for not reaching out to his outfit, as reported by My Joy Online.
Minister refuses to take responsibility
The Sports Minister stated during the presser that he can't take any responsibility for the scandal which is a huge blow to the country's reputation.
He said, as quoted by Citi Sports:
“You follow protocol by writing to the National Sports Authority and the National Sports Authority will write to the Ministry (Sports). In this case, I have just told you, that nothing of such nature happened until I even got the reportage, we didn’t know.
“Secondly, the Norwegian authorities who issued the visas to the athletes didn’t see it prudent to even verify from the Ministry to see whether these are genuine athletes or not so to your question whether I will take responsibility, I’m sorry I can’t.”
Family members of deceased coach ran away
Earlier, YEN.com.gh reported that the NPC disclosed that the family of the dead coach of the 'fake Paralympic team' that absconded in Norway sent to bring back the corpse have also run away.
The NPC and the Sports Ministry were hit with a visa scandal on Saturday, July 21, 2024, after it emerged that 11 people fled after arriving in Oslo for the Fjordkraft Bergen City Marathon.
The para-athletes, who have been identified as fake, failed to take part in the competition and ran away to other Schengen nations.
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Source: YEN.com.gh
