By: Jacob Aggrey
Olympic Gold medalist and Board member for Sports Equity Lab, a research organisation, Dr. Edwin Moses, has arrived in Ghana to support the victory in unity campaign aimed at honouring six iconic sports personalities recognised as African giants.
The iconic Olympic Gold medalist arrived in Ghana on Wednesday, March 6, 2024
The initiative, spearheaded by Sports Equity Lab (SEL), with support from the African Union Sports Council, Ghana’s Ministry of Youth and Sports, and Swiss Sportswear Company, is expected to be unveiled at the University of Ghana Stadium on Thursday, March 7, 2024.
Addressing the media at the Kotoka International Airport on his visit to Ghana, he said it was not coincidental and that he conducted a DNA test, which proved that he was partly Ghanaian.
He affirmed that he was in Ghana to support the 13th African Games and the initiative of the Sports Equity Lab on equity, inclusivity, and decency in sports.
He appealed to sports governing bodies and confederations to invest more in the game by properly remunerating athletes who are major contributors to the success of sports.
He encouraged other black American natives in Western societies to go back to their ancestral roots in order to trace their identities.
Founder of Sports Equity Lab, Professor Dr Yetsa Tuakli-Wosornu, said her outfit was a non-profit organisation committed to driving social justice and inclusion in sports.
“Our goal is to create equity and social justice in the sports field. We have done the events in Ghana, and each time we come, it has gotten bigger and bigger,” she claimed.
Professor Wosornu indicated that safeguarding human rights through sports was an imperative part of society, so the NGO was focused on addressing inequalities in societies.
Renowned icons featured in the lineup include luminaries such as Feryal Abdelaziz, the first female Egyptian karateka to win Olympic gold; Raphael Botsyo Nkegbe, the first Ghanaian to qualify for the 2020 Paralympics; and Noemi Alphonse, the first Mauritian para-athlete to reach a Paralympic Games final.
Others are Mpumelelo Mhlongo, a multi-world championship Paralympic Games medalist; Hellen Obiri, the only woman to have won world titles in indoor track, outdoor track, and cross country; and Abedi Ayew Pele, regarded as one of the greatest footballers of all time.
