The Sports Writers’ Association of Ghana (SWAG) has announced October 10, 2020, as the new date for the 45th MTN SWAG Awards.
The SWAG Awards, originally scheduled for May 23, 2020, were hit by the coronavirus pandemic which led to the suspension or cancellation of many international sporting activities.
The 2019 edition of the prestigious and longest-running awards event in Ghana will now be held at the plush Swiss Spirit Alisa Hotel in Accra, where honours will be conferred on distinguished sportsmen and women who excelled in their various sporting disciplines in the year 2019.
SWAG, the umbrella body for the sports media in Ghana, is the body solely responsible for honouring Ghanaian sportsmen and women who excel while representing the West African country in international competitions. The SWAG Awards have been staged every year since 1973.
In spite of the global havoc caused by the coronavirus pandemic, leading to the postponement of even the world’s biggest sports festival, the Olympic Games, SWAG has urged Ghanaian athletes to keep on training and preparing well for the Games in 2021, as well as the 13th African Games to be hosted by Ghana in 2023.
The 45th MTN SWAG Awards will see 27 sports personalities being honoured. At the launch of the Awards earlier in the year, Kwabena Yeboah, president of SWAG said the best five performing sports federations would be recognized. They include; weightlifting, rugby, athletics, badminton and armwrestling.
He hinted that special meritorious awards would be given to the national beach volleyball team, former international football star, Nii Odartey Lamptey, GOC general secretary Richard Akpokavie, former sports administrator Oteng Aboagye and president of Cheetah FC/ Ghana Bodybuilding and Fitness Association Abdul Haye Yartey.
Charles Osei Asibey – SWAG Secretary-General