The Minister of Youth and Sports, Mustapha Ussif, has disclosed that Ghana spent over $3m at this year’s African Cup of Nations (AFCON) in Cote d’Ivoire.
The Minister made the revelations when he appeared before Parliament on Wednesday.
He Minister confirmed that Ghana budgeted about $8.5m for tournament but received $5m from the Finance Ministry for the first phase of the competition.
According to the Minister, the $3m was for “… per diems, flight arrangements for the team, medicals, equipment, logistics and hospitality”.
“Mr Speaker, our estimated budget for the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations tournament was $8,506,450.00 to cater for the team’s pre-tournament and the Tournament Phases (group stages, 1/16 stage, quarter-final, semi-final and final),” he said.
“Out of the $8,506,450.00, $5,071,840.36 was released by the Ministry of Finance of which US$3,070,067.81 was spent on per diems, flight arrangements for the team, medicals, equipment, logistics and hospitality.
“This resulted in a surplus of $2,001,772.55, after our exit from the tournament,” he explained.
Meanwhile, Telecommunications giant MTN Ghana also donated $400,000 to support Ghana’s AFCON campaign.
“An amount of US$400,000.00 was received from MTN Ghana. This contributed immensely in complimenting Government’s expenditure towards the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations tournament.”
Ussif also clarified that the Ministry did not pay any amount to the players since the Black Stars did not qualify to the next round of the tournament.
“Mr Speaker, the Ministry had negotiated to pay bonuses should the team progress to the next round of the tournament, therefore, no qualification bonuses were paid due to the team’s exit at the group stage.
“Mr Speaker, this measure adopted by the Ministry, was aimed at motivating the team to go all out and progress from one stage of the competition to the other, and also ensure prudent management of resources,” he stated.
Ghana exited the AFCON group stage after drawing 2-2 against Mozambique in their final group game.