Ghana’s Black Stars will assemble in Egypt for the 32nd edition of the Africa Cup of Nations.
However, it has become the norm for Ghanaians, over the decade, to question how much is spent on football tournaments. Therefore, making the budget public has become a tug of war between the media and officials of successive FAs over the years.
Speaking in an interview on Happy FM’s ‘Epa Hoa Daben’ show with Kwame Afrifa-Mensah and Ohene Brenya Bampoe, the former Deputy Minister for Youth and Sports, O.B. Amoah gave reasons why this current administration has also decided not to make this year’s AFCON budget for the Senior National Team public.
“I was having a chat with the Minister and I told him that Ghanaians want to see the Black Stars budget for AFCON, and he told me that making the budgets public is not a problem for him and he is not afraid to make it public. The minister added that what they – the ministry- was thinking was, instead of Ghanaians having a discussion on the Black Stars winning the AFCON, they will rather be talking and discussing the budget more rather than focusing on the team. They will say the money is too much this and that, so if he [the minister] is not careful the budget will be the talk of the town,” O.B. Amoah said.
O.B. Amoah added that, the Minister responsible for Youth and Sports assured him that, “the budget will be made public and everyone will know how much we are spending on the black stars very soon.”
Last month, the sports ministry denied reports, which suggests that an amount of $8 million had been budgeted for the Black Stars towards their participation in the upcoming AFCON in Egypt.
According to the report, the Sports Ministry had approved the said budget to cater for the Black Stars during the tournament.
The reports further indicated that the Black Stars players will have a bonus hike as part of the purported budget.
The big question is how much will be budgeted and approved for this Egyptian adventure?
By: Joseph Nii Ankrah