Members of the Ghana Rugby national women’s sevens team, the Ghana Eagles, reached out to Ghana’s national football team, the Black Queens, to show solidarity with them in their quest to qualify for the 2020 Olympics in Japan.
Both Ghana’s national women’s teams of the two largest team sports in the world, football and rugby, will be chasing the Olympics Dream during September and October of 2019.
The Ghana Rugby Women’s Sevens Eagles will take on eleven of Africa’s top women’s teams on October 12 and 13, 2019, in Tunisia for a chance to qualify.
The national women’s football team, the Black Queens, will be facing Kenya on 30 September 2019 and again on October 4, 2019, in Leg 1 and 2 of the CAF Olympics Qualifying Tournament.
Both the national teams of Ghana are preparing to fly the flag of Ghana high with apparently no or very little support from the government of Ghana.
The Ghana Rugby Ladies decided to muster whatever little support they could lay their hands on and to present it to the Black Queens with a message of solidarity and good luck wishes.
The GOC, represented by its President, Ben Nunoo Mensah and Board Member, Herbert Mensah, and the Ghana Rugby Ladies presented a variety of products and an undisclosed amount of money to the Black Queens on Monday, September 16, 2019, in the presence of the President of the Ghana Olympic Committee (GOC), Ben Nunoo Mensah, and GOC Board Member Mr Herbert Mensah who is also the President of Ghana Rugby.
In her message to the Black Queens Rafatu Inusah, Ghana Rugby Board Member and Women’s Representative, said, “When I heard about the challenges the Black Queens are facing, we decided to show our concern and solidarity by donating part of our stipend allowance and products from our sponsors, Sunda International and Gino, to them. Ghana Rugby does not entertain gender inequalities and we are saddened by the current situation in Ghana sports.”
Mr. Mensah said that he was highly touched by the gesture of the Ghana Rugby Ladies but reminded those present that they, the Ghana Women’s Eagles, were also preparing for an Olympics Qualifier.
“Since Ghana Rugby started with serious structuring of the sport in 2014, it has not received any support from the government even though it has been flying Ghana’s flag high on the international stage,” Mensah said.
The products presented by the Ghana Rugby Women’s Eagles were sponsored by Sunda International and Conserveria Africana Ltd through its Gino brands, two corporate bodies that have been supporting Ghana Rugby for quite some time.
“In light of the plight of our national ladies teams the support from both Sunda and Gino is once again highly appreciated and valued,” Mensah said.
