Govt. Has Not Approved Any Budget For 2014 World Cup

There are credible indications that the government of President John Dramani Mahama has not approved any budget towards Ghana’s participation in the 2014 World Cup competition.

A source close to the Presidency told the Daily Dispatch newspaper “what I can tell you on authority is that the government has not approved any budget for the 2014 World Cup. The situation is that the minster of Youth & Sports is yet to brief and present his budget to Cabinet.”

He acknowledged that there were concerns regarding how much the budget would be and whether the government would directly airlift supporters or let reputable travel/tour agencies bid to send the government sponsored supporters to Brazil.

The source said any funds the government would spend on sending supporters would not be from government coffers but from some private companies.

Whilst there had been reports that it would cost the government an average of GH27,000 per person to Brazil, some of the agencies were offering packages starting from GH16,400 per person to Brazil.

There are indications that whatever figure the government would approve as the final budget would be made public.

Meanwhile, in Nigeria, President Goodluck Jonathan is said to have described his Sports Minister’s budget of US9 million for the 2014 World Cup as “extravagant.”