How Sports Ministry paid a purse holder $10,000 at the 2026 World Cup

It has emerged that the Ministry of Sports and Recreation allegedly paid a Ghana Football Association (GFA) official US$10,000 to serve as the purse holder for the Black Stars during the 2026 FIFA World Cup.

The payment came under scrutiny when Ranking Member of Parliament’s Youth and Sports Committee, Vincent Ekow Assafuah, questioned the basis for the expenditure during proceedings on Ghana’s World Cup spending.

Assafuah pointed to other payments made to senior GFA officials and support staff, including US$50,000 reportedly given to GFA President Kurt Okraku as honorarium and US$20,000 to General Secretary Prosper Harrison Addo.

“You indicate that the president of the GFA was given $50,000 for honorarium and the General Secretary, Prosper, was given $20,000. And you also gave a purse holder GH¢120,000 for holding purse at the World Cup,” he said.

Records show Kurt Okraku was paid $50,000 as honorarium at 2026 World Cup

He then sought clarification on whether the US$10,000 paid to the purse holder had been reduced as part of broader efforts to cut World Cup-related allowances.

“So, was that figure reduced? The $10,000 was the $10,000 that was paid to the purse holder reduced, or you paid the exact $10,000?” he asked.

Sports Minister Kofi Adams responded that the records presented to Parliament reflected the actual payment.

“Well, the records before you are the payments. Is the expenditure. So whatever you see there is what they paid to the purse holder,” he said.

Assafuah further disclosed that US$10,000 each was also paid to a caterer, chef and security officer.

Adams defended the payments, arguing that the respective categories of staff received even more during the 2022 World Cup and that the current amounts had been reduced.

“If you compare to what this same category of officers and in 2022, we have actually shortchanged them,” he added.

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