Ghana's most popular sport is football, followed by boxing, Athletics, Badminton and basketball.
In December 2025 the Sports Fund was established under Act 1159 under the Ghana Sports Fund Bill to boost sports infrastructure and athletes welfare. To kick start operation of the sports fund, several organizations has donated to the fund which include the National Investment Bank. The minister for Sports and Recreation has also pledge to donate his two months salary to the fund. While Honorable Nelson Rockson Dafeamekpor also donatetes his three months salary to the fund.
National Sports Authority which is governmental agency established before Ghana's independence, states that it promotes sports in Ghana. Collaborating with 52 sporting associations and federations. These national sporting federations are the national governing bodies of each sport. Per an Act of Parliament, the NSA provides financial and technical support to the various national teams that compete locally and internationally through their national federation.
Olympic sport
Olympic sport in Ghana began when Ghana first competed as Gold Coast in the 1952 Summer Olympics.
Ghanaian athletes have won a total of four Olympics medals in thirteen appearances at the Summer Olympics, three in boxing, and a bronze medal in association football, and thus became the first country on the Africa continent to win a medal at association football.
2010 Winter Olympics Ghana competed in the Winter Olympics for the first time in 2010. Ghana qualified for the 2010 Winter Olympics with a score of 137.5 International Ski Federation points, within the qualifying range of 120-140 points. Ghanaian skier, Kwame Nkrumah-Acheampong, nicknamed "The Snow Leopard", became the first Ghanaian to take part in the Winter Olympics, at the 2010 Winter Olympics held in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, taking part in the slalom skiing.
Ghana finished 47th out of 102 participating nations, of whom 54 finished in the Alpine skiing slalom.Men's Slalom - Run 2 , Vancouver 2010 Olympic Games official website. Retrieved 26 June 2013. Kwame Nkrumah-Acheampong broke on the international skiing circuit, being the second black African skier to do so.
Popular sports Football
Association football is administered by the Ghana Football Association and the national men's football team is known as the Black Stars, with the under-20 team known as the Black Satellites. Ghana has participated in many championships, including the African Cup of Nations with 4 titles, the FIFA World Cup three times, (2006, 2010, and 2014), and the FIFA U-20 World Cup with 1 title. In the 2010 FIFA World Cup, Ghana became the third African country to reach the quarter-final stage of the World Cup after Cameroon in 1990 and Senegal in 2002. Ghana national U-20 football team, known as the Black Satellites, is considered to be the feeder team for the Ghana national football team. Ghana is the first and only country on the Africa continent to be crowned FIFA U-20 World Cup Champions and two-time runner up in 1993 and 2001. The Ghana national U-17 football team, known as the Black Starlets, are two-time FIFA U-17 World Cup champions in 1991 and 1995, two-time runners up in 1993 and 1997.
Ghanaian football teams Asante Kotoko SC and Accra Hearts of Oak SC are the 5th and 9th best teams in Africa and have won a total of five Africa continental association football and Confederation of African Football trophies; Ghanaian football club Asante Kotoko SC has been crowned two-time CAF Champions League winners in 1970, 1983 and five-time CAF Champions League runners up, and Ghanaian football club Accra Hearts of Oak SC has been crowned 2000 CAF Champions League winner and two-time CAF Champions League runners up, 2001 CAF Super Cup champions and 2004 CAF Confederation Cup champions. The International Federation of Football History and Statistics crowned Asante Kotoko SC as the African club of the 20th century. There are several club football teams in Ghana that play in the Ghana Premier League and Division One League, both administered by the Ghana Football Association.
Boxing
Boxing is the second most popular sport in Ghana. Bukom, a fishing village is considered as the country's unofficial university of boxing. The country has also produced several world-class boxers, including Azumah Nelson a three-time world champion, Nana Yaw Konadu also a three-time world champion, Ike Quartey, and Joshua Clottey.
Athletics
In the past, Ghanaians showed some talent in athletics, including Joseph Amoah, Vida Anim and others.
Badminton Ghana Badminton is known for being the nation's favourite racket sport. Founded in Ghana in 1962, Badminton is the fastest-growing sport in Ghana. In 2017, Ghana Badminton was rekindled by a renewed leadership under a new strategic plan named Mission 2027, spurring growth and opportunities for the sport and getting 4.6 million of the Ghanaian population to start playing Badminton
Its national governing body, Ghana Badminton, represents every member of the Badminton Community in Ghana. The national governing body provides a well-governed, compliant and inclusive sport and represents you at the Government level, ensuring as many players as possible can return to Badminton, represent our clubs and community players to increase the number of available facilities and courts.
In 2018 and 2019, it hosted its International tournament JE Wilson Badminton International in Accra, and has won a host of podium events in multi sport events. Its athletes include, Rabiatu Ofoli, Samuel Lamptey, Kelvin Evans Alphous, Prospera Nantuo, Aaron Tamakloe, Cindy Etornam Tornyenyor, Rachel Quarcoo and Ahmad Samad Abdul.
Basketball Basketball is a popular sport in Ghana. Several Ghanaian players play in the top divisions in Europe or the US-based NCAA. Yet, the Ghanaian national basketball team only plays friendly games.
Ghana has competed in several 3×3 basketball tournaments. At the Senior Level, Ghana competed at the FIBA 3×3 Africa Cup in Cotonou, Benin in 2018 in the Men's and Women's categories. The Men's Team also competed in the maiden 2019 African Beach Games. 3x3 basketball has been identified as the most popular urban team sport.
At the club level, the Greater Accra Basketball League (ABL) is the most known league in the country, and features two divisions for both men and women, and has a total of 40 clubs. The Ghana Basketball Federation hosted the first national club championships in December 2022 in Cape Coast. The first men's edition was won by the Greater Accra team, while the women's edition was won by the Ghana Revenue Authority.
Cricket Cricket was handed over to Ghana in the early days of then the Gold Cost during the rule of its colonial masters the British and played its first international game against Nigeria in 1904. It is known that after the 2nd World War the game grew from there and spread through expatriates and further local citizens in the mining sector.
The game between the 1960s and 1980s saw the involvement of schools and colleges notably in the Greater Accra, Central, Western and the Eastern Regions of Ghana. The spread caught the attention of the Universities, Training Colleges and Communities vibrantly. By 1993 talents were identified at the grassroots to form the juvenile teams taking part in the Cricket Quadrangular among the North West Africa Cricket playing countries at that time.
Ghana became an Affiliate Member of the ICC in 2002 and the game has continued to grow since.
International The country competed in the ICC/ACA Division 3 of the ICC Africa World Cricket League in 2006 for the first time. Its third-place finish was hugely encouraging and it followed that up by winning the following event – in 2008 in South Africa – to gain promotion to ICC/ACA Africa Division 2.
Ghana more than held its own in the 2010 ICC Africa World Cricket League Division 2 held in Benoni, South Africa in April as it finished in second place to maintain its spot for the next event. A record of just one defeat in six matches – that to title winners Zambia – augurs well for the future.
It was no surprise that Ghana became a force to reckon with in the 2011 edition of the ICC/ACA Africa Regional Division 2 T-20 Tournament placing second to gain promotion to the Africa Regional Division 1 event in Uganda the same year and also gained a Promotion to play at ICC Global Division 8 in 2012.
However first time appearance in the ICC/ACA Africa Regional Division 1 T-20 Tournament was evident as the team placed fifth out of the five countries event in Uganda.
Ghana showed its capacity to hold international events when it successfully hosted the ICC/ACA Division 3 T- 20 in Accra in February 2011.
With increased Government support for the lesser known sports, the establishment of cricket in schools is underway via a vibrant national cricket development programme and plans are afoot to establish more cricket grounds.
Domestic structure The GCA supervises the Accra Invitational League, Captain Series, The Diwali League, Girls Quadrangular Competitions and Interschool's Cricket Competition.
The Ghana Cricket Association has shown commitment in promoting the sport in Ghana, with educational institutions like the University of Ghana, Ghana International School, Ashantigold Schools, Achimota School and other public basic schools now taken up the sport.
Judo Judo was introduced into Ghana in the early 1960s by the late President Dr. Kwame Nkrumah. It was introduced to numbers of the young pioneers club of Ghana. During this same time, some French expatiates working with CFAO open a dojo at their office in Accra.
In 1960, Mr. Tony Turkson now a reverend minister opened a club in Accra at the National Arts Centre. Two other clubs were later opened at the police and Army training schools.
In 1973, a Japanese mission was in Ghana through the sponsorship of the Japan foreign ministry to demonstrate the art of Judo to Ghanaians. In 1974, the Japanese Mission sent another delegation as part of a cultural exchange programme. During this same period, three army personnels were sent to Britain for three months training. Two other police officers were sent to Kodokan, Japan for two years. Upon these happenings the Ghana Judo Association was formed.
From the year 1974, Judo has become a recognized national sports and has developed over the years.
Organizations such as Japanese International Cooperation Agency (JICA) Japanese Embassy in Ghana as well as the French Embassy have helped in the development of the sports in the country. From 1976 – 2002, eleven Japanese coaches have helped the Ghana Judo Association to develop Judo. Some Ghanaians have also gotten the chance to study abroad. Two Ghanaians namely Andy Williams and Schandorf were in Egypt for 10 months and 6 months respectively. Over the years five Ghanaians have also been to Japan to study judo through the sponsorship of JICA. In 2003, another Ghanaian had a three-month study in Germany. In 2005, under the Olympic solidarity scholarship, another judo player was sent to Hungary for three months.
At the moment judo is being practiced in may part of the country as many people from all walks of life are enrolling daily to take judo lesson for self-defence, as a sport and to keep them fit.
Handball Handball was introduced to Ghana in 1975, by Mr. S. K. Hlordze then Deputy Chief Sport's Organizer of the National Sports Council and Mr. Katé Caesar, then a visiting lecturer at Specialist Training College – P. E Department, Winneba, now and the University of Education.
In August 2006, Ghana's women's National Team won the African Challenge Trophy [Africa Cup] held in Lome – Togo.
Table tennis
Table Tennis had long started in the 1940s. However, history of organized Table Tennis in Ghana can be traced from the arrival of D. G. Hathiramani, an Indian trader in the Gold Coast.