Gold medalist at the 2023 African Games, Mohammed Aryeetey, has revealed he had to ‘plead’ to the Ghana Boxing Federation to include him in Ghana’s team for the competition.
According to the boxer, there was no slot provided for him to compete in the Games which prompted him to react immediately.
Aryeetey eventually went ahead to secure one of Ghana’s four gold medals in the sporting discipline. He defeated Tulembekwa Zola Livens at the Boxing Arena at the Trust Sports Emporium, Bukom.
Aryeetey, a former national Flyweight champion, won the final via a unanimous decision.
Speaking on Prime Morning, the James Town-based boxer said: “It came to a time that I had to plead to join the team [for the African Games] which was not supposed to be. I had to do it because there were a lot of politics going on in the team.
“I spoke to the President of the Federation and we did our possible best and they gave me the opportunity to join. They told me someone had occupied my weight category so I had to drop down and I promised them I could do it.
“I used the camping in Cape Coast to do my best [in terms of dropping to the minimum weight category]. I was training while everyone was asleep…”
Aryeetey has asked to be given an opportunity to participate in the upcoming 2024 Olympic Games qualifiers to take place in Thailand next month.