Govt spends $1m per Stars game — VOA
The Deputy Minister of Youth and Sports, Vincent Oppong Asamoah (VOA), has noted that the proportion of the sports budget allocated to the Black Stars in preparations for matches is the cause of his outfit's inability to finance other sporting disciplines in the country.
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He explained that the ministry spent an average of $1 million on each away match played by the Stars to the detriment of the other sporting federations.
In an interview with the Graphic Sports in Accra, Mr Oppong Asamoah said the Stars alone took the lion’s share of the budget with little money left for other sporting disciplines whose budgetary allocations were virtually swallowed up by the huge cost of financing the national team’s assignments.
"We believe every money spent by the ministry must consider other sporting federations because the country spends $1 million on every away match played by the Black Stars," he said.
Speaking on the sidelines at the launch of the Millennium Marathon at the Accra Sports Stadium last Monday, the deputy minister said it was important that certain expenditure on the Stars were cut down or scrapped altogether in order to ensure financial prudence.
He described the present situation as “mismanagement” that needed to be stopped if the ministry were to exercise stricter financial discipline and avoid running into debts some of which remain unsettled.
"We can't continue like this and I think some payments need to stop. We have mismanaged the system to the extent that we are not able to take care of most of our re-current bills."
Mr Oppong Asamoah admitted also that the relationship between the ministry and the Ghana Football Association had become frosty and needed improvement to ensure progress. "I think we can do better. For now I don't think there is collaboration between us".
