IOC Lifts Ban On Ghana

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has lifted it suspension on Ghana after almost a year of a ban issued by the movement. Kojo Bonsu, Chairman of the National Sports Authority (NSA) told GNA Sports in Accra on Friday that a meeting held in Seoul, South Korea in the early hours of Friday took the decision. The latest development was expected following the passage of the Sports Bill by Ghana�s Parliament, which the global outfit ranked as a condition for the lifting of the ban. In July, a meeting involving officials from the IOC, the government of Ghana and the GOC led by Mr Benson T. Baba held in Lausanne, Switzerland, saw the IOC instructing Ghana to pass that Bill and willed the latter to facilitate a Congress within eight weeks. The passage of the Sports Bill, which ranked high on the roadmap of the international body was to bring Ghana�s regulation in conformity with the IOC�s. The IOC, citing political interference in the administration of the Ghana Olympic Committee (GOC) thus suspended the nation from its membership in January. At the July meeting, the GNA Sports can confirm that the global body also ordered that all legal suits initiated by the Baba-led administration when the saga started must be withdrawn as a matter of urgency. The IOC is expected to supervise the Congress process with all parties agreeing to work together in a constructive manner to benefit Ghana sports development. Ghana was suspended following concerns with the country�s sports law, which the IOC found incompatible with the principles and rules of the Olympic Charter and what the global body deemed as a lack of commitment to revising the sports legislation before the end of 2010. Mr Bonsu described the decision as refreshing and good news to followers of Ghana sports and said he was hopeful that that it would go a long way in encouraging Ghanaian athletes and officials to put their acts together to chalk successes for the country.