Govt to send supporters to FIFA U-17 world cup

The Minister of Youth and Sports, Isaac Kwame Asiamah has announced government's preparedness to transport fans to the 2017 FIFA U-17 if they are able to present a united front for the Championship.

According to the Minister, government has advised the various national supporters unions to unite in order to receive support from government.

He said he was glad that in his interactions with the various unions, they had indicated their readiness to unite ahead of the U-17 tournament which takes place in October in India.

At an interaction with the National U-17 teams at the Ghanaman School of Soccer Excellence in Prampram on Friday, Mr Asiamah said the NPP in opposition was always consistent in their criticism of the Brazil 2014 fiasco which he left some fans stranded in Rio de Janeiro which in his opinion, brought disgrace to the country.

He said the decision to send fans to the 2014 World Cup turned out to be a disaster because of poor organisation of the fans and he was keen to avoid a recurrence.

"Check the records when I was the ranking member in Parliament and the Brazil fiasco happened. It was about the organisation of the supporters we attacked, how it was organised, total disorganisation, there wasn’t any properly planned programme so the supporters got stranded and some were watching the matches on the streets.

"If there should be any organisation of supporters which may happen this time round to go and cheer them up in India, yes we have to put them under one elephant, I don’t want to say umbrella...They should come together and when they do we would have the courage to support them and not splinter groups," he said.  

Ghana plays in Group A alongside hosts India, Colombia and the USA.