Soccer Information of Wednesday, eleven February 2015
Supply: Starrfmonline.com
Sports activities Minister Mahama Ayariga has justified the Authorities’s flying of followers from Ghana to Equatorial Guinea to observe the senior nationwide soccer group Black Stars play within the simply-ended Africa Cup of Nations.
“…I can guarantee you that it’s a great factor to ship supporters to return and cheer up your workforce,” Mr Ayariga informed Kwadwo Asare Barfour Acheampong (KABA) in an interview on Tuesday February 10, 2015 on Asempa FM’s Ekosii sen programme.
“You haven’t any concept how lonely the boys may be once they get right into a stadium and it is filled with an opposing staff’s followers and their supporters are simply not there to cheer them up,” the MP stated.
The Black Stars gained silver medal within the event after they have been crushed 9-eight by the Elephants of Ivory Coast within the last recreation of the continental showpiece.
“You need to know that in soccer, the followers play a task within the finals. These yellow T-shirts have been Ivorians and you possibly can see that all the stadium was filled with Ivorians and it wasn’t individuals from Equatorial Guinea who have been supporting Ivory Coast: it was precise Ivorians who flew a number of plane and got here, and once we completed the event, from that night until I left yesterday afternoon with our group, the airport was filled with Ivorians leaving in droves with their plane they usually got here and actually cheered their [team on].
“Our supporters have been so small and have been confined to some small nook,” Mr Ayariga stated.
His feedback comply with Starrfmonline.com’s investigations which revealed that the Authorities of Ghana spent over six million dollars ($6million) to airlift followers to the host nation.
Starrfmonline.com earlier reported that Authorities spent at the least $one hundred sixty five, 000 to fly 250 followers in two chartered flights to the oil-wealthy nation to observe the Black Stars’ semi-remaining recreation, however additional investigations unearthed that authorities truly spent a million dollars every on six separate journeys for all of the six video games performed by the Black Stars on the AFCON.
Sports activities Minister Mahama Ayariga final week informed Starr 103.5FM that his Ministry had no involvement in any way in flying Ghanaian followers to Equatorial Guinea to observe the Senior nationwide group.
However checks by Starrfmonline.com have revealed that the Sports activities Ministry invited the followers to submit their passports for processing earlier than they have been forwarded to the workplace of the Chief of Employees the place all of the travels have been coordinated.
Checks by Starrfmonline.com have additionally revealed that journey businesses charged between $650-$seven hundred for a spherical journey from Accra to Malabo per head. The federal government, in line with extremely-positioned sources, used the Ghana Nationwide Petroleum Company (GNPC) as a smokescreen to keep away from any public flak.
A number of the supporters flown to Equatorial Guinea to cheer the nationwide staff included Ministers of State, officers of the GNPC and a few soccer directors of some golf equipment within the nation.
A piece of Ghanaians have expressed their annoyance on the choice to hold followers to the continent’s soccer fiesta particularly as Ghana did not deliver house the trophy.
Some Ghanaians have additionally condemned the transfer because the West African nation is presently earlier than the Worldwide Financial Fund (IMF) for a 3-yr programme to stabilise a wobbling financial system in addition to increase home reform.
Ghana is presently reeling beneath a litany of financial hardships. The native foreign money, the Ghana Cedi, plunged by about forty % in worth towards the US greenback within the first three quarters of 2014 however picked up within the final quarter after the Authorities infused $2.7 billion into the financial system by means of a $1-billion Eurobond flotation and a $1.7-billion cocoa syndicated mortgage.
Earlier checks by Starrfmonline.com revealed that Journey Issues – a journey and tour company – was the one company in dealing with the journey preparations of the followers to Equatorial Guinea.