Ghana hit with Olympic suspension

(CNN) -- The International Olympic Committee (IOC) suspended Ghana on Wednesday in a move which could prevent the west-African country from competing in the 2012 London Games.

The IOC cited "political interference" from the Ghanaian government as the reason behind the National Olympic Committee (NOC) of Ghana's expulsion.

"The IOC has deployed every possible effort in order to help resolve the situation that the NOC of Ghana has been facing for 18 months and find a long-term solution with all parties concerned," read an IOC press release.

The statement went on to claim that an "obvious lack of cooperation of the government authorities in Ghana and a lack of respect of the Ghana public authorities" led to the nation's ban.

Jacques Rogge, president of the IOC, claimed Ghana's suspension was as a result of the county's sports laws, which "do not respect the provisions of the Olympic charter."

"There have been many promises that the law would be changed but nothing materialized," Rogge told reporters at the organization's headquarters in Lausanne, Switzerland.

As a result of the IOC's decision, Ghana will also lose its Olympic funding.

Ghana have won four medals at previous summer games, with Clement Quartey their most successful medalist after he claimed a silver in the men's light welterweight boxing division at the 1960 Rome Games.

Eddie Blay claimed a bronze medal for the country in the same discipline four years later in Tokyo, while Prince Amartey also achieved a bronze medal in the middleweight division at the 1972 Munich Games.

Ghana's last Olympic medal was in 1992, when their men's football team came third in Barcelona.