Edwin Nii Lante Vanderpuye has pledged to overhaul and sanitize Ghana’s sports sector if he is appointed Youth and Sports Minister under the John Mahama administration.
Vanderpuye, who previously served as Sports Minister in 2016, expressed confidence in his ability to reform the system and address ongoing issues plaguing the sector.
Speaking to Joy Sports, the Member of Parliament for Odododiodio Constituency shared his dissatisfaction with the current state of Ghanaian sports under the New Patriotic Party (NPP) administration.
“If I become the Minister of Sports in 2025, I will sanitize the Sports. I will sanitize the sports once again. I am not happy with the things going on, I am not happy,” he said.
Highlighting challenges in Ghanaian football, he criticized the influence of individuals exploiting the sport for personal gain, often at the expense of players and investors.
“There are a lot of things going on, there are so many things in our football going on that unless we put bold steps to sanitize the system and take decisions that will ensure to the benefit of those who are doing football and the footballers and not businessmen and shylocks, football will not grow.
“The people who play the game, the people who invest their money, people who invest their time should enjoy football and not people who sit behind and turn footballers and people who do football like poultry chicken and anytime they decide to have then they pick them up for stew and soup and enjoy themselves, no that will not happen.”
A former footballer and sportsman himself, Vanderpuye emphasized his commitment to protecting athletes from exploitation and ensuring a thriving sports environment.
“I have been a footballer before, I have been a sportsman before and I will fight against anyone who desires to exploit any sportsman,” he added.
Meanwhile, the current Youth and Sports Minister, Mustapha Ussif, has faced mounting criticism over the declining state of sports in the country.
Under the outgoing NPP government, the Black Stars failed to progress beyond the group stage of any international tournament in 2020, following a Round of 16 finish in the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) in Egypt.
