World Cup: Who is a purse holder and why was GH¢120,000 paid?

The Ministry of Sports and Recreation has explained that a purse holder is an official accountant responsible for managing financial matters during various tournaments.

During the 2026 FIFA World Cup, the purse holder was tasked with managing funds used by the team for tournament-related expenses.

Sports Minister Kofi Adams disclosed that he directed that the money be loaded onto a card for use when needed, unlike in previous tournaments when physical cash was carried around, sometimes generating controversy.

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“The purse holder is like the ministry's accountant who follows the team and is the spending officer. Whether the money is on a card or is physical cash that they carry, they used to carry a lot of physical cash, and then they would go. But for this particular World Cup, I insisted that we put the per diems and all those things on cards. As they move, we'll be loading the card as we spend more time.

“So, on this occasion, we knew when the group stage was ending. When we qualified for the next round, we had to add more money to the card based on the additional time we were going to spend. The purse holder is responsible for all these arrangements. The laundry, the jerseys that they wear—it has to be washed, all those things, the payment,” Kofi Adams said in an interview with TV3.

Addressing criticisms of the GH¢120,000 payment to the purse holder for the 2026 World Cup, Kofi Adams said the amount was justifiable, considering the responsibilities involved in carrying out the role.

The minister expressed surprise at the backlash, comparing the payment with the amount spent on the purse holder during the 2022 World Cup under the New Patriotic Party (NPP) administration, which he said was higher than the current figure.

“But interestingly, I'm surprised that they were worried about the payment of one hundred and twenty thousand cedis to a purse holder. In 2022, when the World Cup was just in Qatar. Only Qatar. The purse holder received $10,000, equivalent to GH¢130,000 then, and in addition received an appearance fee of $50,000, that is GH¢650,000,” he added.

SB/JKB

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