A two-day national netball tournament in Accra doubled as an anti-trafficking campaign aimed at athletes who may be lured by fake sporting offers abroad.
The International Organization for Migration (IOM), the United Nations agency that works on migration issues, has sponsored the Netball Federation of Ghana National Championship as part of a campaign to warn young athletes about human trafficking.
The championship ran for two days, on 16 and 17 October 2026, at the tennis court of the Accra Sports Stadium. Teams competed while organisers used the platform to talk about teamwork, discipline and the risks of trafficking.
Why netball
Project Assistant at IOM, Edem Semordzi, said the agency chose netball on purpose, as part of an effort to spread sports sponsorship beyond football, which normally takes the largest share of funding in Ghana.
Daily Guide Network reports that the sponsorship falls under IOM's trafficking-in-sports project, which uses sporting events to educate young people about trafficking and exploitation.
Semordzi explained that young athletes are a target group because traffickers take advantage of their ambition. A player who dreams of a trial abroad or a professional contract can be persuaded to follow an offer that turns out to be false.
The advice to players and parents
He asked players, coaches, parents, match officials and supporters to be careful, to check any opportunity through trusted channels before accepting it, and to report anything suspicious to the authorities.
This is a point that matters for Ghanaians abroad too. Families in the United States and elsewhere are often the ones asked to help fund travel or "agent fees" for a relative who has supposedly been offered a sporting opportunity overseas. IOM's message is that the offer should be verified first.
The agency said sport can be used to raise awareness, build protective networks around young people and help them spot the warning signs early. It also said it hopes to continue working with the Netball Federation of Ghana in the coming years.
Sports authority backs the tournament
The National Sports Authority (NSA), the state body responsible for sports development in Ghana, praised the federation for staging the championship.
Speaking on behalf of the NSA's Deputy Director-General in charge of Technical, Christine Ashi said netball plays an important role in sports development, particularly for girls and young women.
She said tournaments like this one give athletes a stage to show their ability, build confidence and push towards higher levels of competition, including representing Ghana internationally.
Ashi thanked IOM for its support and said partnerships between sports bodies and development partners are necessary for building inclusive communities. She also urged the players to compete fairly and to respect their opponents.
What next
Organisers expect the championship to serve two purposes at once: growing netball in Ghana, and keeping the conversation about trafficking prevention going within sporting communities. IOM has signalled it wants the partnership with the federation to grow in future editions.
