Kofi Adams
THE GHANA Football Association (GFA) appears to be at loggerheads with the Minister for Sports and Recreation, Kofi Adams over the decision to slash the Black Stars’ budget ahead of the team’s Matchday 7 World Cup qualifiers against Chad and Mali.
Kofi Adams had announced the cut to the team’s budget on Tuesday following a directive from President Joh Dramani Mahama.
The budget was slashed from the GFA’s initial request of $2,053,240 down to $1,320,490, saving some US$732,750.
Addressing the press, Mr. Adams said each line items presented by the GFA were adjusted in line with government’s fiscal stance, before the Office of the President vetted and approved the reviewed budget since national team funding has no dedicated budget line at the Ministry.
The GFA in a statement said indicated that it would not be drawn into a back-and-forth with the Ministry, as it was fully focused on the games against Chad and Mali.
They however indicated that the matter would be properly addressed once the two qualifying games are complete.
But Mr. Adam in a sharp response criticised the statement, pointing out that the person who issued it should have been bold enough to attach a name to it instead of just blankly stating ‘Communications Department.’
“The GFA’s statement has no name attached. Who wrote it? Is the person afraid to put his name there? Be bold. Who is the communications department?” Kofi Adams queried.
He also suggested that there was no need for the GFA to respond to the issue by way of a press release.
Kofi Adams, however, indicated that the Sports Ministry would be ready for the GFA when they choose to respond to government’s decision.
“It’s not everything that sometimes you get up and you want to respond, because you don’t have any case to respond to. When you presented an estimate, it went through a process, and the approval has been given, and it’s that approval we’re working with,” he said.
Mr. Adams added that “…So, I don’t know what it is that they want to respond to. We’ll wait for them, since you say they would respond,” he said during an interview on Sporty Fm.
Meanwhile, the Minister has noted that the decision to cut the Black Stars’ budget will not affect the team’s performance.
“I don’t believe that the decision to cut down the budget presented by the Ghana Football Association (GFA) will affect the performance of the team. These are professional players, and so, there is no need to be worried,” he indicated
BY Gibril Abdul Razak