Joy Sports’ Fentuo Tahiru Fentuo honored by University of Ghana Students

Lead Sports Editor at the Multimedia Group Limited, Fentuo Tahiru Fentuo, has been honoured by students of the University of Ghana Sports Psychology class of 2024 for his sterling contribution to the development of sports in Ghana. 

The 37-year-old host of Sports Zone was presented with a framed citation at the end of a two-hour class on the university’s campus, where he guest-lectured on the relevance of sports psychology to stakeholders in the industry and the role of journalists in highlighting contemporary sporting issues that sports psychology can help address.

Fentuo, an alumnus of the Psychology Department, was at Legon on the invitation of Dr. Collins Badu Agyemang, Psychology Senior Lecturer and facilitator for the Sports Psychology class.

Dr. Agyemang, who is also the Director for the Pan-African Doctoral Academy at Legon, and National President for the Ghana Psychological Association (GPA), has for the past seven years consistently brought industry professionals to the class aimed at merging practical first-hand experiences with theory.

Speaking to the class of 120 students, the well-travelled host of Game Plan on Joy FM recounted experiences from his many travels covering a variety of international competitions such as the FIFA World Cup and the World Athletics Championships and highlighted the critical role of sports psychology in modern sports.

“Sports Psychology has always been significant throughout history and top athletes and coaches will tell you about the importance of motivation for example, in getting athletes to perform at the top level,” he said.

“But it’s also extremely important in helping athletes deal with abuse and disappointment, especially in recent times when issues of mental health have become more important than ever.

“Top athletes are quitting the game because of social media or racial abuse; families are getting affected, and so it’s become an important job for sports psychologists to help the athletes handle these issues,” Fentuo said in parts of his lecture.

The interactive session saw the students and the journalist engage in an exciting Q&A that at times transcended sports and descended into general matters of navigating a career after school.

The former Citi FM journalist was presented with a citation at the end of the class, where the students described Fentuo as “an inspiration to us…and for setting a standard for us to follow”.

Fentuo, a native of Vamboi, a small village in the Upper West Region, is one of Ghana’s finest sports journalists, and started his career at Kumasi-based Ultimate FM in 2013 before moving to Accra-based Citi FM in 2017 where he became a key member of the thrilling Sports Panorama team that captivated audiences in Accra on Friday nights.

He became the station’s Sports Editor in 2020 and hosted Citi TV’s Scorecard program until 2022, when he left to join Multimedia Group’s Joy FM in 2022, where he currently heads the Sports Department.