Ghana Blind Sports Association of the Ghana Blind Union have sent a congratulatory message to Mr Samson Deen president elect for the Africa Paralympic Committee.
The president for National Paralympic Committee Ghana won the elections that was held in Morocco last Sunday after polling 24 of the 41 votes at the organisation’s General Assembly in the Moroccan capital Rabat.
He replaces Angola’s Leonel da Rocha Pinto, who had led the APC since 2008 and was re-elected unopposed in 2017.
A total of 38 delegates were present in person and a further three virtually at the APC General Assembly, and Deen received 24 of the votes cast, beating the 15 polled by Hamid El Aouni of Morocco, as reported by Modern Ghana.
Deen was elected as President of the National Paralympic Committee (NPC) of Ghana in 2019, having previously headed the country’s Para Powerlifting Association.
Mr Deen is a business mogul with vast experience in sports tourism and sports administration.
Egypt’s Dr Hayat Khatab was elected to the first vice-presidential role at the General Assembly, polling 23 votes to the seven of Cape Verde’s Rodrigo Bejarano.
Mr Deen since his appointment as NPC Ghana president has supported the Ghana Blind Sports Association and has pledge his continues support to the GBSA. The Ghana Blind Sports Association together with the International Blind Sports Federation (IBSA) is set to stage the 2021 IBSA Goalball African Championship from December 3-11 at the sports complex of the Cape Coast University.
Nigeria, Egypt, Algeria, Kenya Cote DI’vore, Cameroon and Morocco will all join the host Ghana to battle for supremacy and honors is the sport of Goalball.
The competition would feature both men and women teams.
It would be the first time Ghana would be hosting the championship, since it was staged once in Algeria and twice in Egypt.
At the last African Championships in Port Said, Egypt, in 2020, the Algerian men’s and women’s teams both took gold to secure their place at the Paralympics.
The 2021 Championship would be a qualifier for the 2022 IBSA Goalball World Championships in Hangzhou China, from 6-18 July. The top three teams in each gender would secure their tickets.
The Ghana Blind Sports Association with support from the Ghana Blind Union has over the years developed Blind sports such as Goalball, Blind Football, Judo and Showdown in ten regions of Ghana.
Story by Philip Otuo