The Minister of Sports and Recreation, Kofi Adams, has dismissed suggestions that Ghana’s Black Stars receive international flight tickets a month in advance, describing the claim as inaccurate.
His comments follow complaints from members of Ghana’s 4x100m relay team, who recently qualified for the 2027 World Championships in Botswana at the World Athletics Relays. The athletes had raised concerns about logistics and travel planning, suggesting they were not treated the same as footballers when it comes to travel arrangements.
The relay team, which secured qualification with a time of 38.09 seconds, included sprinters Benjamin Azamati and Abdul Rasheed Saminu, who expressed dissatisfaction over what they described as poor planning for their trip to Gaborone.
Responding to the comparison between athletics and football, Kofi Adams insisted that the ministry does not operate in the manner suggested by the athletes, especially regarding early ticket purchases for football teams.
“I haven’t heard them express any concern about arrangements for the Senior African Athletics Championship. What I heard was about their travel arrangements for the World Athletics Relays hosted in Botswana, and that was due to wait times and jet lag from short travel periods. They tried to take on the Ministry of Sports and compare it with footballers, but they got it wrong when they said footballers get tickets a month ahead.
“It’s not possible to get tickets a month ahead for footballers because most times the list is released close to match time. That’s when arrangements are made. I’ve even complained before that I needed longer notice.
“Buying tickets earlier costs less, but when you buy last minute, it costs the ministry more. So it is for our own financial and economic good to have the information much earlier and buy tickets ahead of time. It will cost less. We would prefer to get the information earlier to act. The truth of the matter is that the ministry does not drastically change the dates and schedules as presented by the federation,” he stated.
The remarks add to ongoing discussions about resource allocation and logistical planning between Ghana’s football and athletics administrations, especially ahead of major international competitions.
