Black Stars comparison, ministry attack was wrong – Kofi Adams tells 4x100 relay team

The Minister of Sports and Recreation, Kofi Adams, has condemned the decision of Ghana’s 4x100m relay team to publicly criticise his ministry over challenges with travel arrangements.

After the team secured automatic qualification for the 2027 World Championships in Beijing with a time of 38.09 seconds, Benjamin Azamati and Abdul Rasheed Saminu raised concerns about inadequate logistics support and poor travel arrangements to Gaborone, Botswana.

In response, the minister clarified that his ministry is not responsible for delays in travel arrangements, as it relies on information from the athletics association to facilitate travel plans.

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He also rejected claims that footballers receive tickets a month ahead of competitions, describing such criticisms as unnecessary.

“I haven’t heard them express any concern about arrangements for the Senior African Athletics Championship. What I heard was about their travel arrangements for the World Athletics Relays hosted in Botswana, and that was due to wait times and jet lag from short travel periods. They tried to take on the Ministry of Sports and compare it with footballers, but they got it wrong when they said footballers get tickets a month ahead.

"It’s not possible to get tickets a month ahead for footballers because most times the list is released close to match time. That’s when arrangements are made. I’ve even complained before that I needed longer notice,” he explained.

The Buem Member of Parliament further added that booking flights earlier helps the ministry make economic gains by paying lower fees, while late bookings attract higher costs.

“Buying tickets earlier costs less, but when you buy last minute, it costs the ministry more. So it is for our own financial and economic good to have the information much earlier and buy tickets ahead of time. It will cost less. We would prefer to get the information earlier to act. The truth of the matter is that the ministry does not drastically change the dates and schedules as presented by the federation,” he stated.

Watch the video below:

“They got it wrong” - Sports Minister Kofi Adams responds to concerns raised by Ghana’s relay team over their travel arrangements for the World Relays#JoySports pic.twitter.com/YPlpjAMira

— #JoySports (@JoySportsGH) May 6, 2026

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