Okudzeto Ablakwa criticises $3m spent on Black Stars at AFCON 2023

Member of Parliament for North Tongu, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa has criticized the decision of the Youth and Sports Ministry to spend $3 million on the Black Stars despite their early exit at the just-ended 2023 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) tournament.

The sector, Mustapha Ussif speaking on the floor of Parliament on Wednesday, February 14 revealed that a total amount of $8.5 million was budgeted for the tournament.

However, out of the $5 million released earlier, a total amount of $3 million was spent on the team.

Reacting to the breakdown on the floor of Parliament, Okudzeto Ablakwa furiously criticized the decision and said it is about time the country gets value for money.

"Mr Speaker, the point must be made that the $3m that was spent on the three matches played, which the team performed abysmally is in excess of what other countries budgeted for the entire tournament.

"Nigeria budgeted $1.8m, Zambia budgeted $2.1m and these are open-source information and here we are. There is no value for money."

He also revealed staggering money that was pumped into the Black Stars during their qualifiers for the tournament in Ivory Coast.

"Mr Speaker, the document the Sports Ministry submitted to this house, if you look at what we spent on qualifiers, Ghana v Angola home and away amounted to Ghc7.4m and Ghana v Madagascar also amounted to Ghc13.2m. The airlifting of supporters from Ghana to Qatar was Ghc5.3m. We are throwing hundreds of millions into supporting this Black Stars and we are still not getting results.

"Look at the state of our pitches. We don't even have a single FIFA standard pitch. Youth development is gone. The local league is gone," he added.

At the 34th edition of the AFCON, Ghana, who were hoping to win their fifth continental title were booted out at the group phase having finished 3rd with two points out of a possible nine.