You lied, apologise to the Minister - Sports Minister's aide tells GBC's Director-General

The Executive Assistant to the Minister of Youth and Sports, Jamaludeen Abdullah, called out the Director-General of the Ghana Broadcasting Corporation (GBC), Professor Amin Alhassan.

Jamaludeen demanded that Prof. Alhassan apologize to Sports Minister Mustapha Ussif for spreading falsehoods about the minister regarding funding for the coverage of the 13th African Games.

“Apologise to the Minister because you have lied,” Abdullah said in an interview on Adom FM.

Prof. Amin Alhassan, in an interview with Uniq FM, denied receiving an amount of $3 million from the ministry to telecast the Games, indicating that the state broadcaster earned $105,000.

“I want to state that GBC’s total benefit from the African Games was $105,000. Nothing more was paid to GBC,” he said.

However, in a statement released on Tuesday, August 21, 2024, the Ministry of Youth and Sports offered details of the African Games broadcast rights deal with GBC, indicating that the agreement amounted to $3.6 million.

The Ministry cited that a sum of $2.5 million was paid to GBC in two installments, while $1 million was paid to a third party upon the instructions of GBC.

"From the total amount, $2.5 million was paid directly to GBC in two tranches: $1 million and $1.5 million on March 13, 2024, and May 22, 2024, respectively. Another amount of $1 million was paid to third parties upon the instructions of GBC, in accordance with the contract," the release explained.

EE/NOQ