Dan Kwaku Yeboah reveals why government didn't fly fans to 2026 World Cup

Sports journalist Dan Kwaku Yeboah has disclosed that the lack of visas for many fans who were supposed to travel to rally behind the Black Stars at the 2026 World Cup is the real reason government did not sponsor local supporters.

It will be recalled that President John Dramani Mahama stated that, due to the exorbitant costs involved in sponsoring fans to the Mundial, his administration had decided to give tickets to those in the diaspora to support the team in the United States and Canada.

This claim has been rebuffed by the Peace FM sports journalist, who revealed that mass visa denials by embassies influenced the decision.

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He alleged that the two major political parties, the New Patriotic Party (NPP) and the National Democratic Congress (NDC), usually sponsor their members to such tournaments when the opportunity arises, but this time the plan failed.

“You know why politicians get excited when the Black Stars qualify for the World Cup? In 2022, I was in Qatar. When that happens, they start calling their people, including constituency executives, to bring their members. That is what both NPP and NDC do, they share the slots among themselves. In 2022, they claimed it was supporters’ unions, but that was a lie; it was NPP members.

"Unfortunately, this time most of the NDC fans did not get visas, which is why the government decided to share tickets with those in the diaspora. It’s not true that they are concerned about the nation. If they had gotten the visas, they would have flown them there,” he said in Twi during United Showbiz on UTV.

Kwaku Yeboah noted that he received the information from people involved in the process and believes President Mahama’s approach is the best if politics is set aside.

“About 150 fans went for interviews, and only three were granted visas on a certain day. We have friends among them, so they tell us. The majority didn’t get visas. If not for politics, it’s best to give tickets to diaspora fans to support the team during tournaments,” he added.

Watch the video below:

#2026FIFAWorldCup: Losing to Panama would mean an automatic exit for the Black Stars - Dan Kwaku Yeboah#UnitedShowbiz pic.twitter.com/CHTwSyay6p

— UTV Ghana (@utvghana) June 7, 2026

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