Minister pledges transparency; says Black Stars budgets will be disclosed before games
The Minister of Sports and Recreation, Kofi Iddi Adams, has assured Ghanaians that his ministry will uphold transparency in the management of funds allocated for the Black Stars and other national teams, pledging that future budgets will be published ahead of matches.
Speaking at a media briefing in Accra on Thursday, the Minister acknowledged widespread public interest in how funds are used to support national teams and said the ministry will remain open and accountable.
"I know there has been a matter of concern for many of you about the cost of supporting the national teams, and we made a promise that we're going to keep you updated,” he said. “We’re not going to keep that away from you and say that because of audit purposes we won’t publish anything. No. Even before the audits come, when all the details are available, we will make them clear to you.”
According to Mr Adams, the ministry is still mobilising resources to cover expenses from Ghana’s recent matches against Chad and Madagascar, and has yet to settle all outstanding payments.
“For those of you who think that we have had every money and paid for what we must pay as far as Ghana versus Chad and Ghana versus Madagascar is concerned—no, we haven't been able to do that yet,” he explained. “We are still working on it.”
Looking ahead, the Minister promised that future match-related budgets will be released well in advance to allow for public scrutiny and understanding.
“By our next game, which is in September, we'll have ample time to even publish the budget ahead of expenditure,” he said. “We couldn’t do so for the previous match because of time constraints, but time will not be an issue now. We’ll be able to call you here, make it available to you so that you can ask relevant questions for explanation.”
He added that sometimes budget line items are misunderstood due to technical language, and emphasised the need for media engagement to clarify such matters.
“As a minister, when I first came in, I was given the first budget, and there were a number of things that, if I were holding a pen without explanation, I would have just struck out,” he admitted. “But when it is explained, you now understand what that item truly represents.”
Mr Adams assured the public that detailed post-match expenditure reports will also be made available. “We’ll call you again for you to have the account when everything is done with,” he said.
His comments come amid growing demands for accountability in sports financing and follow public debate surrounding statements he made during a televised interview about flying the national team first-class if they win the FIFA World Cup.
While defending his remarks, he reiterated that transparency and good governance will remain central to his leadership at the Ministry of Youth and Sports.
“We said we will keep to it—the accounts will be made known to you,” he stressed. “That commitment stands.”
