Black Bombers head coach Ofori Asare has clarified that he was not involved in selecting Ghana’s boxing team for the 2026 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, explaining that the squad had already been chosen before he took charge of preparations.
Speaking on Adom TV’s Sport Page, the experienced trainer said the 10-member team was selected by a technical committee appointed by the Ghana Boxing Federation after an individual championship organised to determine the country’s representatives.
According to Asare, his appointment came after the selection process had been completed, leaving him responsible only for preparing the team for the competition.
“They participated in an individual championship prepared by the federation. The federation prepared a technical committee that put up the selection, so I wasn’t part of the committee,” he said.
“We were discussing who was to train the team at that point. The team was already presented before I had come to training.”
Asare stressed that his comments were only meant to clarify his role and should not be interpreted as criticism of the officials who selected the athletes.
He defended the competence of the selection committee, insisting that he had no reservations about its members or the process they followed.
“I’m not saying the people who selected the boxers are incompetent; I am just clarifying the point that I was not part of the technical committee. The people in the committee are competent, and I’m not against any of them,” Ofori Asare added.
His comments come after questions were raised following Ghana’s disappointing boxing campaign at the Commonwealth Games.
Despite fielding a 10-member squad, the Black Bombers returned home with only one medal, falling short of expectations.
The performance marked a decline from Ghana’s showing at the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham and equalled the country’s boxing medal tally from the 2018 Gold Coast Games.
Asare’s clarification seeks to draw a clear distinction between his responsibilities as head coach and the federation’s selection process, as discussions continue over Ghana’s overall performance at the Games.
