SWAG Northern Region pays courtesy call on new regional director of National Sports Authority

Executives of the Sports Writers Association of Ghana, Northern Region (SWAG-NR) on Friday 25^th July, 2025 paid a curtesy call on the newly appointed director of the National Sports Authority (NSA), Mr. Ibrahim Alhassan Jihad at his office in Tamale.

The essence of the visit was to among other things congratulate him on his appointment, welcome him to the office and to also foster a cordial relationship with the sports media in the region in his tenure of office.

Leading the SWAG-NR delegation was regional chairman, Osman Hafiz. Other members of the delegation included, Abdul Majeed Abdulai, vice chairman, Sey Mubarak, public relations officer, Abubakari Yussif, secretary and Mohammed Mutaka, organizer.

The team met the NSA director Mr. Ibrahim Alhassan Jihad and his administrator, Madam Emma Gyamerah.

In his welcome remarks, the NSA Northern Regional Director thanked SWAG-NR for the thoughtful gesture of the visit and asked for more of such to enable the two stakeholders in sports work hand-in-hand to develop sports in the region. He hinted that the authority will soon invite SWAG-NR for a briefing on the last quarter itinerary of sports in the region.

Mr. Jihad was of the view that sports journalists must try to include more local content in their programmes in order to promote sports in the region and also to motivate more talents to take up the various disciplines in sports as a form of challenge.

For his part, SWAG-NR regional chairman, Osman Hafiz thanked the director for the reception and indicated that it will the first time the authority is going to invite the sports media to brief them on their programmes and said this shows a positive future for sports development as both institutions can further collaborate further in diverse ways to develop sports.

He said in comparison to the past, most directors of the NSA will sideline the media in their activities which will not translate into a cordial relationship and this deprives sports of the coverage it needs.

Osman Hafiz also indicated the readiness of sports journalists in the region to support the NSA in all its endeavours.

Other executive members also shared their perspectives on the discussion during the visit. Key amongst which was Sey Mubarak who, in response to the director’s plea for more local sports content said, sometimes as much as sports journalists want to cover local content, they are deprived of information. He said, steps must be taken to address this in the future so that sports journalists will have no excuse not to report same.

During the visit, preparatory works were being done on the stadium to ensure it meets the club licenses regulations for the upcoming season which the NSA director assured will be ready when the Ghana Football Association’s club licenses department comes for the second and final visit next month.

Mr. Ibrahim Alhassan Jihad is a seasoned sports administrator with over two decades experience in various sports and a physical instructor.