The African badminton governing body, Badminton Confederation of Africa (BCA), has banned Ghana from competing in any of its events with effect from 16th June 2022.
The development comes after the Badminton Association of Ghana refused to honour outstanding payments to the Benin Badminton Association (BBA), the Uganda Badminton Association (UGA), and the BCA to the tune of $ 8,276.5.
In a letter announcing the suspension, the Secretary-General of the BCA, Sahir Edoo, stated that the BAG was formally given notice of its indebtedness to the aforementioned organisations on February 5, 2022, but has not received any communication from the BAG apart from an initial letter acknowledging receipt of the BCA directive.
“The BAG is hereby suspended from participating in the following BCA events and activities: a. All Africa School Championships b. All Africa Under 15 Championships c. Other development activities, including but not limited to Coach Education, Shuttle Time, Para-Badminton, AirBadminton, Player Development, Technical Officials and any other development activities organized by the BCA,” the Secretary-General of the BCA, Sahir Edoo wrote.
Secondly, the BAG will be allowed to enter officials and players to World Badminton Federation (WBF) sanctioned events only if local organisers and host countries receive two-week advance payments for accommodation and other expenses.
Thirdly, the BCA has also announced its decision to officially endorse BWF Council’s decision to restrict discretionary grants to the BAG.
The BCA warned it will not lift the latest sanctions until the BAG defrays its debts. It also stated that it may also take “additional measures if no action is taken by BAG in a timely manner.”
Back in February 2022, the BCA scribe stated that the BAG had failed to make a payment of BBA $ 4,481.00 to the Benin Badminton Association after the All Africa Under 15/19 Championships in August 2021 “despite a grant of $4,300 allocated to you (BAG) by the BCA.”
Again, the BCA stated that the BAG is yet to make outstanding payments pertaining to accommodation and PCR tests to the Ugandan Badminton Association after participating in the Uganda Para-Badminton International in November 2021) despite “receiving a participation grant from the BWF Female Para-Badminton.”
Further, the BCA revealed the BAG has been indebted to the African badminton governing body since 2019.
“In our books, your Association also owes the BCA an amount of $2,223.50 since 2019 and it appears that you have no intention to pay us back. Your last communication on this matter dates back to January 2021 when we reached out to you on your payment plans. You then confirmed repayment of your dues from July 2021. As of today, we have not heard from you regarding this matter.”
The BCA chronicled a list of alleged fraudulent activities by the former GOC Vice President and the BAG dating back to Ghana’s participation at the BWF World Junior Championships 2017 (October 2017) – in Indonesia where “Your association failed to pay the organisers (Indonesia Badminton Association) on time, despite having received a grant of $6,500 by the BWF.
It will be recalled that the New Crusading Guide broke news about the arrest of the BAG President Evans Yeboah on alleged visa fraud on Thursday, 21st January at a badminton event at the Accra Sports stadium. The GBA President is said to have collected ¢12, 000 out of an agreed sum of ¢36, 000 from the complainant. But Mr. Yeboah denied the charges through a letter written by his lawyer George Loh.
Subsequently, the New Crusading Guide stated it was not going to apologise and retract the story and rather did a follow-up story which stated that Mr. Yeboah had made an initial part-payment of ¢1400 out of the total amount of ¢12, 000 after he was arrested.
