A member of the Parliamentary Select Committee on Sports, Vincent Ekow Assafuah, has stated that the committee has not yet received the budget for the Black Stars’ 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifiers played in March 2025.
Assafuah explained that the committee is not privy to the total expenditure incurred for the matches against Chad and Madagascar.
Speaking to Accra-based Metro TV, he mentioned that the committee has only been provided with details regarding the salaries of the backroom staff.
“We are not aware of the full budget for the Black Stars as we speak. The only information that has been provided to the committee is the breakdown of salaries for the coaches and staff, such as the assistant coaches and team managers. These details were made available, but the actual budget for the games has not been shared with us,” Assafuah explained.
The demand for transparency regarding the Black Stars’ budget follows President John Dramani Mahama’s promise that all budgets for sporting events, especially those involving national teams, will be disclosed before, rather than after, tournaments.
However, Assafuah argued that the president’s promise may not result in significant change, as budgets were typically disclosed after tournaments in previous administrations.
“This promise isn’t anything groundbreaking. In previous administrations, the ministries and the Ghana Football Association (GFA) have always disclosed the amount of money spent on the Black Stars after matches. The real change would be if the government starts disclosing the budget before the matches take place,” he added.
Meanwhile, the Minister of Sports and Recreation, Kofi Adams, has assured the public that the budget will be made available.
“The budget for the team will be made available,” he told Accra-based Asempa FM.
“There is nothing to hide from the public, but we must acknowledge that it is expensive to take care of the national team because most of the players come from Europe.”
He further explained that the budget was not disclosed earlier due to the potential impact it could have had on the team’s performance.
“People were asking me to disclose the budget for the games, but I kept asking myself, what would announcing the budget do for the team ahead of the matches?”
The Black Stars won both matches and are currently leading their group, boosting their chances of qualifying for the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
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Meanwhile, watch as Ghanaians applaud Black Stars for excellent performances against Chad, Madagascar
