The Minister for Youth and Sports, Mustapha Ussif on Wednesday, September 8, urged the Ghana Cricket Association and other sports federations to be proactive with their plans and programs of activities ahead of time.

Mr. Ussif, in his address to the Ghana Cricket Association delegation that called on him to present a trophy they won at the just-ended International Cricket Council (ICC) competition in Rwanda, disclosed the difficulties the ministry faces with the various federations due to their late submission of programmes.

“The challenges with the federations are that, they wait for 3 weeks to 1 week to a tournament before writing to us," Mustapha Ussif said.

This, he believes, places the Ministry in a tight corner in terms of planning and responding to the needs of federations.

He also encouraged the Cricket Team to continue with its impressive performance so they can be among the household sports in Ghana.

The Minister reiterated the government’s commitment to sports development across all disciplines, as well as improvement in infrastructure development in the sector.

The President of the Ghana Cricket Association, Emmanuel O. Asare in his remark thanked the Minister for his support and also pleaded for more support to enable the team chalk more successes for the country.

Cricket, he indicated, is getting better in Africa with 20 countries currently participating.

He also appealed to the Minister to factor the game among the competitive sports for the African Games in 2023.

The Team participated in a bilateral game in Rwanda in which they won 3 out of 5 games.