Ghana FA refunds $4m loaned by government to the Black Stars for the World Cup

Published on: 06 November 2014
Ghana FA refunds $4m loaned by government to the Black Stars for the World Cup
Kwesi Nyantakyi

The Ghana Football Association (GFA) has refunded all the $4m the country’s government spent on the Black Stars at the 2014 World Cup, ending thoughts that the country’s tax payers money was spent on the national team during the tournament in Brazil.

Government agreed to loan the team an amount of about $4m to pay appearance fees and other expenses at the tournament which will be refunded after the competition when the FIFA prize-money is paid.

FIFA last week paid the GFA the prize-money meant for the Black Stars for their participation in the competition held in June.

The GFA says it has refunded all the monies government spent on the team for participating in the tournament in Brazil in June.

"The Ghana Football Association has refunded the loan of $4,003,761.08 it received from the Government to help fund the Black Stars participation in the 2014 World Cup," the GFA said in a statement released on Thursday.

"The amount was paid to the Ministry of Youth of Sports on Thursday afternoon in furtherance of an agreement with government before the tournament in Brazil.

"We wish to recall that prior to the 2014 FIFA World Cup, the Government of Ghana agreed to pre-finance the Black Stars expenses during the competition pending a receipt of the FIFA appearance fees for participating countries.

"In pursuance of the said agreement, an amount of $4,003,761.08 which represents the amount of money government advanced to the Black Stars in Brazil has been paid."

GFA, keen on making it clear that no public funds was spent on the national team during the competition in Brazil, says it will repay all the loan made to the team today.

"We wish to emphasize that the amount paid by government to the team was only a loan from Government and not public funds," the GFA statement said emphatically.

The GFA thanked government for its continuous support towards the promotion and the development of football in the country.

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