GFA supports Pres Mahama’s call for budget transparency

 The Ghana Football Asso­ciation (GFA) has endorsed the call of President John Dramani Mahama on the Ministry of Sports and Recreation (MoSR) to make dealings with the GFA, regarding the Black stars and its transparency.

In a statement issued by the FA, it pledges its unwavering support for the Ministry to achieve this goal.

The FA’s statement was in reaction to the call for transpar­ency in the Black Stars prepara­tion and those of other sports federations in his State of the Nation address to Parliament on Thursday.

In the address, President Mahama, instructed the Sports Minister, Mr Kofi Iddi Adams, to hold the Ghana Football Association (GFA) accountable as Ghana prepares for upcoming World Cup qualifiers.

He also directed that budgets of sports events including the two Black Stars matches coming up against Chad and Madagas­car to be scrutinised and made public.

Recognising the president’s directive, the FA stated that “We also endorse the president’s call for transparency in relation to the budgeting and expenditure related to the Black Stars and, by extension, all national teams.

“Indeed, as part of our com­mitment to transparency, the GFA has always provided the Ministry responsible for Sports with the first draft budget for the national teams. Beyond this, ev­erything to do with the budgeting and expenditure related to the Black Stars sits with the Ministry. For emphasis, payments made in relation to the Black Stars are exclusively handled by the Ministry.”

The FA further expressed its gratitude to President Mahama for his passion for the Black Stars and Ghana Football, and his belief that the Black Stars’ failure to qualify for the AFCON was not reflective of the coun­try’s football talent.

“It is for this reason that the Executive Council has taken some steps to strengthen the Management and Technical team of the Black Stars. We expect these interventions to reflect in our upcoming World Cup quali­fiers in the month of March and also further on in the year,” the statement added.