The Minister for Sports and Recreation, Kofi Adams, has disclosed that only five of the 31 winners of a second raffle organised to facilitate travel to the 2026 FIFA World Cup successfully secured United States visas.
He said the government was working on a compensation package for the remaining 26 winners who were unable to travel.
Speaking on the ongoing World Cup visa and fundraising controversy, Mr. Adams explained that an initial group of between seven and ten raffle winners had their travel documents processed following a meeting with the organisers.
According to him, the group subsequently received refunds but was later asked to resubmit the money to Rambell to continue with the original travel arrangements. However, almost all of them declined the request and opted to retain their refunds.
The Minister further disclosed that a second raffle organised by Mpuntu produced 31 winners. Although travel documents were processed for all 31 individuals, only five obtained visas.
Mr. Adams insisted that funds raised through the second raffle had not been spent and remained in the custody of the fundraising committee for compensation purposes.
“Every pesewa of the raffle that was run by Mpuntu has not been touched. That money has not been touched. The fundraising committee is still holding on to those funds to make sure that everybody is appropriately compensated,” he stated.
The Minister also dismissed allegations by the NPP Minority in Parliament concerning the use of foreign telephone numbers in the fundraising exercise, describing the claims as false.
“If the NPP Minority in Parliament is running a story and talking about foreign numbers and what have you, that’s a complete lie,” he added.
The controversy has sparked public scrutiny over the fundraising arrangements, visa facilitation process and the involvement of private entities in Ghana’s travel plans for the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
By: Bernard Mensah
Discussion about this post