A police petition filed with Ghana's Criminal Investigations Department alleges that officials at the National Sports Authority collected nearly $623,000 from members of the public who believed they were paying for help securing visas to attend the FIFA World Cup. The petition claims that Director-General Yaw Ampofo Ankrah was paid a substantial commission as part of the arrangement. This has led to a serious credibility test for the NSA, the state body responsible for overseeing sports infrastructure and administration in Ghana.
According to the petition, members of the public paid money to NSA officials in exchange for facilitating World Cup visas, an arrangement that appears to have gone badly wrong for those who paid. The NSA has confirmed that the CID is now investigating the matter following the submission of the petition, and the Authority says it will cooperate fully with police. The NSA's legal team is cooperating with the investigation and has stressed that Ampofo Ankrah had not granted any media house an interview regarding what it called "false allegations."
The NSA has defended its actions, citing a legitimate partnership with TRIBE FEST, a FIFA-licensed partner involved in fan-experience activities, World Cup viewing events, and mobilisation efforts. The Authority insists that this partnership never authorised TRIBE FEST, any NSA staff member, or any other individual to collect money from the public for visa procurement on the Authority's behalf. This distinction is central to the dispute, as the NSA acknowledges a legitimate partnership existed for World Cup-related fan activities but denies that this partnership extended to charging members of the public for visa facilitation services.
The allegations have drawn a political response, with the Minority in Parliament calling for Ampofo Ankrah's removal. The Ranking Member on Parliament's Youth and Sports Committee, Vincent Ekow Assafuah, has told journalists that the Director-General and some NSA staff had been reporting to the CID for questioning over an arrangement alleged to have generated roughly $600,000. Assafuah is quoted as calling on President John Dramani Mahama to either dismiss the Director-General immediately or, at minimum, direct him to step aside while investigations continue.
This is not the first controversy to engulf the NSA's leadership in recent weeks. Tensions between Ampofo Ankrah and Agriculture Minister Bryan Acheampong have been reported, with the Minister accusing the NSA boss of halting the Nkawkaw stadium project. The visa allegations also arrive against the backdrop of President Mahama's decision on September 2 to dissolve the NSA board altogether, a move whose implications remain unresolved. Sports Minister Kofi Adams has since indicated that some members of the dissolved board could be reinstated.
The scandal also puts a spotlight on the NSA at a moment when the Authority is meant to be overseeing sports development priorities, including stadium projects like the one in Nkawkaw, while its own leadership faces criminal scrutiny. The case also tests how state institutions respond when senior officials are personally named in fraud allegations. Parliament's Minority has framed the matter as one requiring presidential intervention rather than leaving Ampofo Ankrah in his post throughout the investigation.
The CID's investigation into the petition is ongoing, and the NSA has said it will cooperate fully with the process. No timeline has been given by police or the NSA for when the investigation might conclude or what its findings could be. Parliament's Minority has called on President Mahama to act on Ampofo Ankrah's position while the probe continues, but it is unclear whether the President has responded to this demand. The status of the dissolved NSA board, including which members might be reinstated, also remains unsettled.
Key points
- The National Sports Authority faces a credibility crisis amid allegations that officials collected $623,000 from the public for World Cup visas that never materialized.
- The Director-General of the NSA, Yaw Ampofo Ankrah, has been accused of taking a substantial commission as part of the arrangement.
- The Minority in Parliament has called for Ampofo Ankrah's removal, citing the need for presidential intervention to ensure an impartial investigation.
