The Minister of Youth and Sports, Mustapha Ussif has confirmed that the country spent $3 million in the recently ended AFCON tournament in neighboring, Cote D’Ivoire.
Ghana qualified for the continent’s tournament and was housed in Group B, which had, Egypt, Mozambique, and Cape Vere but failed to advance past the group stages in a second competition running.
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Ussif announced during his visit to parliament on Wednesday that the initial budget was set at $8.5 million, with $5 million disbursed by the Finance Ministry to cover various expenses such as diems, flights, medicals, equipment, logistics, hospitality, and others.
He however intimated that a total sum of $2 million was unused following the BlackStar’s failure to advance past the group stages.
“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 stated.
“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 elaborated.
“An amount of US$400,000.00 was received from MTN Ghana. This contributed immensely in complementing the Government’s expenditure towards the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations tournament,” he added.
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The Sports Minister is expected to take steps in conjunction with the GFA and other relevant bodies to change the face of dwindling Ghana Football which has received in recent years.
