Over 400 Ghanaian football fans have been stranded at the Kotoka International Airport awaiting a flight to watch the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil.
The supporters have besieged the Kotoka Airport with their passports and Visas in hope that they would make the trip to Brazil to watch the Black Stars opening match today, at 10pm.
Narrating the incident to host of Peace FM’s morning show “Kokrokoo”, one of the travellers who gave his name as Kingsley explained that the people were scheduled to fly on Saturday but unfortunately arrangements changed and so, they were later said to wait till 6am Monday morning.
The angry supporters who spent the night in the open at the Kotoka International Airport (KIA) said they had to battle with mosquitoes throughout the night.
As at 8am, they were still at the KIA with several of them registering their displeasure with authorities.
When asked why the numbers have soared up at the Airport, Kingsley said about 400 supporters are still stuck at the Airport due to miscommunication and rumor-mongering.
According to him, some of the people only have Visas without any ticket while others are brandishing their passports but have no Visas, yet they all want to catch the flight to Brazil.
Government had booked a flight for 500 supporters but over 600 have reportedly made their way to Brazil for Ghana’s match today.
Meanwhile, the 400 supporters at the airport have all claimed they are eligible for the FIFA World Cup, yet according to Mr. Kingsley, a lot of them don’t have the official tags which were given to them by the Government of Ghana.
He disclosed the people were misinformed and believed it has caused the kerfuffle at the Airport.
He told host Kwami Sefa Kayi that it was rumored all over the place that Government had arranged for a “free flight” and due to this, a chunk of soccer fans trooped into the Airport “with or without Visas or tickets” to somehow travel outside the shores of Ghana to Brazil.