In 1993 Emmanuel Osei Sarpong was teaching Technical Drawing to junior secondary school pupils. On 1 October 2026 the Presidency handed him Ghana's national stadiums.
The letter naming him acting Director-General of the National Sports Authority (NSA) arrived on the same day Yaw Ampofo Ankrah left the job, suspended while police look into an alleged World Cup visa scheme. Most coverage has introduced Sarpong as a professor. The longer story is how a boy from Obo, Kwahu, got there in 33 years.
Obo, Nkawkaw and Bechem
Sarpong comes from Obo in the Kwahu area of the Eastern Region, the same town that produced the highlife great Nana Kwame Ampadu. He went to Nkawkaw Secondary School, a short drive down the scarp, and then to St. Joseph's Training College in Bechem to qualify as a teacher.
The Ghana Education Service posted him to a junior secondary school in 1993. For five years he taught General Science, Mathematics, Technical Drawing and Technical Skills.
Study leave that never really ended
In 1998 he took study leave to read for a Bachelor of Education at Winneba, then the University College of Education. He finished in July 2002 with the Academic Merit Award and did not go back to the classroom. The university kept him as an acting sports coach and teaching assistant.
A Master of Science from the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology followed in February 2006, and with it a post as Assistant Lecturer. He was a Lecturer by 2007, a Senior Lecturer in 2016 and an Associate Professor in 2022.
Leipzig, Ilorin and Xi'an
He spent February to July 2010 at the University of Leipzig on the International Trainers Course, a postgraduate programme for coaches and sports administrators. He is now Ghana's ambassador to it.
His PhD in Human Kinetics came from the University of Ilorin in Nigeria in April 2017, paid for by GETFund. He specialised in sports and exercise physiology. He has also studied at Northwest University in Xi'an, China.
Sixteen years on the touchline
From August 2006 to April 2022 Sarpong was the honorary soccer coach of the University of Education, Winneba. He holds a football coaching certificate and a fitness instructor's certificate, and his research is on the things a coach worries about: injuries, nutrition and how the body produces energy.
The administrative jobs came on top of that. He was his department's examinations officer for six years, its head from 2016 to 2018, chairman of the university's Sports Directorate from April 2022 and Dean of the Faculty of Health, Allied Sciences and Home Economics Education until July 2025. He is currently Dean of Student Affairs.
Already inside the building
He did not arrive at the NSA as a stranger. He sat on its governing board and chaired the Technical Committee until President John Dramani Mahama dissolved the board on 2 September 2026. He was also National Coordinator of the School and Grassroots Sports Secretariat at the Ministry of Sports and Recreation.
What he inherits is harder than a committee. The Accra Sports Stadium and the Baba Yara Sports Stadium have both drawn complaints about their condition this year, and the police inquiry into the visa allegations is still open. The NSA has denied authorising any such scheme, and the Presidency's letter said his predecessor's suspension was not a finding of wrongdoing.
A job that does not last
By our count Sarpong is the eighth person to run the authority since 2013, acting heads included. Robert Sarfo-Mensah was suspended after the 2018 Commonwealth Games visa scandal. Peter Twumasi lasted five years. Dodzie Numekevor had his appointment terminated after seven months. The full run is on our list of Directors-General of the National Sports Authority.
He coached one university football team for 16 years. The NSA went through its last seven heads in 13.
