World Cup money for sports development
The total amount of monies accrued from the South Africa 2010 World Cup, which is estimated at about $11 million, was paid into the consolidated fund, the Minister for Youth and Sports, Mr Elvis Afriyie Ankrah, has stated .
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However, he indicated that what would be earned from FIFA in this year’s competition in Brazil would be used for the construction of boxing arenas, gyms and to support the development of other disciplines.
Responding to a question on how the Ministry of Youth and Sports disbursed the amount accrued from the South Africa 2010 tournament when the minister took his turn at the meet- the -press series in Accra, Mr. Ankrah said there was controversy over the disbursement of the money after FIFA released it, hence the decision by the then Minister of Youth and Sports, Akua Sena Dansoa, to pay it into the consolidated fund.
“ The then minister paid the money into the consolidated fund and all of us benefited, but it was done in consultation with the FA. We needed to be creative in our way of doing things, so what we did benefited the larger society, ” he explained.
Outlining the programmes, policies and achievements of the ministry for the year, as well as, the programme put in place to cushion the Black Stars to excel in the Brazil 2014 world cup, Mr Afriyie Ankrah said the ministry was making frantic preparations to develop sports infrastructure , including football fields, recreational grounds, sports halls, information communication technology centres as well as libraries in all the districts across the country.,
On how such projects would be funded, he said the ministry would liaise with the district assemblies to use part of the common fund meant for sports development to fund the projects and part of the monies that would accrue from the Brazil 2014 World Cup tournament to support the funding .
On the budget approved for the Brazil 2014 World Cup tournament, Mr Afriyie Ankrah said a total of $9,870,810 had been approved , explaining that the players would be offered $10, 500 as winning bonus at the group stage.
He also said winning bonuses would be increased as the Stars progressed from the group stage as a way of motivating them to reach the finals for the first time.
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According to Mr Ankrah, the Stars would earn a total of $8 million if they failed to progress at the group stage and indicated that the country would benefit financially from the tournament.
He said progressing to the next stage would also earn the country $9 million, and it would subsequently be increased to $35 million should the Stars win the ultimate .