Gov't did not spend $750,000 on Rio 2016 – GOC

The Ghana Olympic Committee (GOC) has described as false a recent report which appeared in the Daily Graphic, headlined “Government spent $750,000 on Rio 2016” at its press conference held in Accra on Friday, September 16, 2016.

A rejoinder signed by the Secretary-General of the GOC, Richard Akpokavie, however, acknowledged that the said headline contradicted the main story which actually stated that: “The Chef de Mission of Ghana at the Rio Olympic Games, Chris Essilfie, has revealed that the Ghana Olympic Committee (GOC) submitted a budget of $750,000 to the Ministry of Youth and Sports (MOYS) for their preparations and participation at the competition.”

It said the GOC clearly indicated at the press conference that “they had received no money directly from the government, although they appreciated the efforts of the minister that resulted in (GNPC) providing the $120,000 needed to pay for the athletes and officials’ plane tickets to Rio, as well as the further corporate sector solicitation by the minister that enabled the ministry to directly pay the athletes and officials’ per diems (that totalled about $80,000)”.

“For the record, it is absolutely false for the Graphic reporter to have indicated, first, that the government spent $750,000 on Team Ghana at the Games and, second, that the GOC indicated so,” it stressed.