March 29, 2026
Accra, Ghana
The President of the Ghana Olympic Committee Mr. Richard Akpokavie has said individuals who have invested their personal resources to support expensive team sports especially at the national level deserve the nation’s gratitude for their sacrifices. He singled out Mr. Herbert Mensah, formally President of Ghana rugby, but who is now Rugby Africa President and member of the World Rugby Executive board, for exceptional praise.
Mr. Akpokavie said although Mr. Mensah is now in charge of Rugby on the entire African continent, his personal investments, advocacy and wide networks is still keeping Ghana Rugby running independently without any sustainable support from government or corporate sponsors.
He was addressing delegates at the 2026 Annual General Meeting (AGM) of the Ghana Rugby Football Union (GRFU) at the Labadi beach hotel over the weekend in Accra. The AGM saw rugby club delegates, regional associations, and board members as well as observers from the GOC, NSA, and Rugby Africa some of who were physically present whiles others were on zoom.
The Meeting adopted a new constitution and a code of conduct as part of efforts by the board to reposition the union on a global governance scale. An audited account was also presented and adopted, showing a huge deficit in the Union’s accounts as well as frozen accounts that arose as a result of litigation from the dissolved board of the union.
Regardless of these challenges, the GRFU national teams have remained competitive abroad, having participated and excelled in two international tournaments for both men and women in Mauritius and Kenya in 2025.
‘‘Anyone who puts their personal resources into supporting a team sport
in this country deserves our gratitude and we thank Herbert Mensah for what he has done and continues to do for Ghana rugby’’, the GOC President said in his address.
He added that team sports like rugby, unlike individual sports like tennis or boxing, are expensive to run.
’’Team sports is an expensive endeavor and for Rugby sevens you’re looking at 20 to 25 players in addition to a technical team in any competition and yet your union has not let Ghana down even without government support, thanks to one man’’.
Unlike soccer which is a low contact sport with 11 players where deliberate physical force is prohibited on the field, rugby 15s have 15 players on the field and as a highly physical contact sport, rugby allows tackling, scrums, and rucks. This makes rugby players prone to more injuries on the field and require special nutrition, making it overall the most expensive team sport to manage.
He urged the Rugby fraternity to be appreciative of Herbert Mensah’s efforts as many team sports in Ghana are collapsing for lack of such benevolent individual sponsors.
The Olympic Committee President also encouraged the Ghana rugby fraternity to never relent in engaging Herbert Mensah and his wide network in Africa and on the world stage to further develop rugby in Ghana whiles striving for sustainable corporate sponsorship.
Ghana’s sports authorities have over the years focused investments solely on soccer at the detriment of other disciplines. A rugby stadium was however built under President Nana Akufo Addo at the university of Ghana, the first of its kind of pitch that now serve as venue for continental rugby coemptions organized by Rugby Africa, the continental governing body of the game.
