The Minister of Youth and Sports, Mustapha Ussif, has clarified his comments made during the courtesy call paid on him by the national amputee football team, the Black Challenge, on Friday.
In a statement issued on his behalf by his Executive Assistant, Jamaludeen Abdullah, the Minister described the media reports from the visit as “misleading”.
The statement aimed to clarify the “misunderstandings”.
The comments by Mustapha Ussif have attracted widespread condemnation following his demands to the paraathletes.
“Unlike last year when you came and came here directly, this year you started going from one place to another place to another place without even rendering records to government who sponsored you and that cannot be tolerated,” he had stated.
Sports Minister Mustapha Ussif calls out Black Challenge for visiting other personalities before reporting at the Ministry.
He’s demanding account of funds received from government for the campaign in Egypt.#OnuaSports pic.twitter.com/Zb9gHW3Nca
— #OnuaSports (@OnuaSports) June 14, 2024
But Jamaludeen Abdullah said the Sports Minister’s demands were “both administratively and traditionally appropriate”.
“Secondly, the Hon. Minister did not state that national teams should not receive donations nor did he express any dissatisfaction with the donations received by the Black Challenge,
“Instead, referencing the Sports Act of 2016 (Act 934, Section 18), the Minister said, ‘I’ve asked the President of the Ghana Para Team, we’ve seen that you’ve received a lot of donations which is good for us, you should account for it.’
“I wish to affirm that the government, through the Ministry, has provided and will continue to provide the necessary support for all national teams.”
He stressed that the Ministry remains committed “to ensuring transparency in all its dealings with sports federations”.
