The Ministry of Sports and Recreation has denied claims that government funds were used to sponsor Ghanaian supporters attending the ongoing FIFA World Cup, insisting that no taxpayer money has been spent on fan travel to the tournament in the United States, Canada and Mexico.
In an official statement issued on Thursday, the Ministry described reports suggesting otherwise as a deliberate “distortion of information”, maintaining that President John Dramani Mahama and the Sports Ministry had consistently ruled out the use of public resources to finance supporters’ trips.
According to the Ministry, the decision was informed by “sound economic considerations”, particularly at a time when the country must prioritise domestic development needs. It noted that the cost of sponsoring a single supporter could reach as much as US$11,000, making such expenditure difficult to justify against competing national priorities.
The Ministry further stated that the government had instead relied on support mobilised from the private sector to meet expenses related to Ghana’s World Cup campaign. It recalled that a fundraising initiative involving corporate Ghana was launched to raise about US$30 million to support the Black Stars’ participation at the tournament.
Any excess resources generated through the exercise, the Ministry said, would be directed towards sports infrastructure development, ensuring that available funds contribute to longer-term national objectives beyond the competition itself.
It also reiterated its commitment to recommendations contained in the Justice Dzamefe Committee report and the subsequent White Paper, which “clearly stipulate” that state funds should not be used to mobilise supporters for overseas assignments involving national teams.
The clarification comes amid public scrutiny over the presence of Ghanaian supporters at the tournament and concerns about whether the state had departed from previous commitments to limit expenditure associated with national team engagements abroad.
