Kurt Okraku has dismissed claims the Ghana Football Association (GFA) received $800,000 from Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta for Black Stars’ international friendly matches in September.
The Black Stars played Brazil and Nicaragua in friendlies as part of preparations for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, and the GFA is alleged to have received $800,000 to cover the team’s expenditure in both games.
This was reported by Kumasi-based sports journalist Collins Atta Poku, who sourced three Majority Members of Parliament, who are part of the 80, seeking the removal of Ken Ofori-Atta as Finance Minister.
“I have just come out of court to read that the Ministry of Finance gave the Ghana FA USD 800,000 to honour two friendly games against Brazil and Nicaragua. Fact check!!! This is false… Kindly ignore,” Okraku posted on his Facebook page.
The GFA have also released a statement in support of their president’s denial of the reports as untrue.
The Black Stars lost 3-0 to Brazil and won 1-0 against Nicaragua thanks to a brilliant first-half strike by Fatawu Issahaku.
Ghana’s final pre-World Cup friendly will be against Switzerland on November 17. Black Stars’ first match is against Portugal on November 24.
After Portugal, the Black Stars will play South Korea and then Uruguay to finish their group stage campaign.
