Edwin Nii Lante Vanderpuye has revealed that he was advised against entertaining Black Stars player into his office during his tenure as Ghana’s Sports Minister.
According to the former Sports Minister, who was reacting to Black Stars player Mubarak Wakaso’s comment that politics has ruined the game as the country’s two biggest political parties [NPP-NDC] do not wish the Black Stars well because the ruling party will claim the glory, he said members of his beloved NDC party tried influencing him not to entertain certain players in his office.
He in an interview with Accra-based Angel FM, threw his weight behind Wakaso’s NDC-NPP playing politics with the Black Stars comment.
“I agree with Wakaso 100%. Let me be honest, partisan politics has badly affected the Black Stars and even some of the Sports Federations,” he said.
“I experienced it as a Sports Minister. Some people in NPP influenced some of the players against my administration as minister and I got to know,” he added.
“Some of my own party people too tried to influence me and advised me against entertaining some Black Stars players in my office because they believed these players belonged to NPP so I should not deal with them.
“These are facts,” he emphasized.
The Member of Parliament of the Odododiodoo constituency also called on put political affiliations aside and rally behind the various sporting disciplines to achieve their goals.
“We have to throw partisan politics out of sports. We have to understand that sports should be devoid of politics. It is a big challenge,” he advised.
Ghana has failed to annex her fifth AFCON trophy since winning her fourth in 1982.
Edwin Nii Lante Vanderpuye was in January 19, 2019 appointed appointed as the Minister for Youth and Sports serving almost a year before his party lost power to NPP.
