ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the development of sports in Ghana in the 1960s. It argues that the Convention People’s Party government developed a deep interest in sporting activities in Ghana, establishing the Central Organization of Sports and a director of sports whose duties included the popularization of Kwame Nkrumah’s ideas of black Africa’s capabilities, Pan-Africanism, and African unity through sports. The chapter explains the background to Nkrumah’s interest in sports development in Ghana and the effects of the politicization of sports in the 1960s. It also argues that the politicization of sports during the Nkrumah regime provided short-term benefits but complex long-term problems. The chapter explores the sports development, and the mismanagement of institutions associated with it, in postindependence African societies is worthy of study. The National Liberation Council declared its wish to see an increase in sports participation, and ultimately to see Ghana listed among world champions.
