Acase involving a group claiming to be a Ghanaian Paralympic team sent to Norway in April has taken a twist. Ghanaian Paralympic officials are investigating a potential visa scandal and searching for several missing individuals.
In April, a group secured visas from the Norwegian embassy in Accra, claiming to be Ghana’s Paralympic team travelling to compete in the Fjordkraft Bergen city marathon. However, upon arrival in Norway, the entire team vanished, except for one member caught trying to leave for Sweden.
Ghana’s National Paralympic Committee President, Samson Deen, stated that they were unaware of the team and suspected forged documents were used to obtain visas. This suspicion is further fuelled by the team members’ disappearance after reaching Norway, with no attempt to register for the marathon they supposedly came to compete in.
The situation took a tragic turn when the team’s coach, George Gyasi, collapsed in Norway and later died in a hospital. Efforts to repatriate his body were also met with complications. Four relatives sent to retrieve the coach’s remains also went missing in Norway.
Mr Deen said that only a handful of visa applications were initially submitted for the supposed Paralympic team. He believed that the documents were somehow altered to inflate the number of visas granted. The NPC suspected that the entire operation was a scheme to enter Europe illegally, and not to participate in any sporting event.
The search for the missing individuals continues. Despite the incident, Ghana will be sending one legitimate athlete to compete in the upcoming Paralympics scheduled for Paris later this summer.
