$600,000 per game on Black Stars is small -GFA

The President of the Ghana Football Association (GFA), Mr. Kwasi Nyantakyi has expressed gross discontent about a publication in the national bi-weekly sports paper, Graphic Sports, citing unnecessary spending on the Black Stars for just a match.

The said publication, which appeared in last Friday's edition of the Graphic Sports has stirred the FA boss to react during the launch of the GFA/PLB Glo premier league Awards in Accra on Friday.

To Mr. Nyantakyi, the paper's argument that government spent $600,000 when the Stars featured against their Beninois counterparts in their joint Africa/ World Cup qualifier in Kumasi is baseless, taking into account the socio-economic benefits that accrue to the nation when the national team win their games, saying "Spending $600,000 on the Stars, is for me small, and club chairmen will bear me witness."

"If government spends such an amount on the Black Stars for a game, it is not a waste as purported by the Graphic Sports, since what the Stars victory brings the nation can't be quantified in monetary terms. I think the story is misconceived," the FA boss said. Mr. Nyantakyi noted that: "There was no fraud, and I see supporting the Stars as a useful investment tool for international relationship tourism. He threw the challenge that a referendum should be conducted to sample people's opinion whether or not government should continue to spend on the Black Stars.

In his response to a Kumasi-based radio station interview regarding the story, Mr. Nyantakyi pointed out that: "I asked myself what might have prompted the reporter (Listowell Yesu Bukharson) to bring this to the public."

The Stars won the said game 1-0 at the Baba Yara Stadium in March, and extended their dominance over Mali and Sudan to place them at the Group D summit.