Qatar 2022: Bear with us; we are doing our best with limited, private funds - Sports Minister to Ghana fans
The Minister for Youth and Sports, Mustapha Ussif, has appealed to Ghanaian fans who have travelled to Qatar to offer support to the Black Stars, to bear with the challenges they may face.
Prior to the start of the World Cup in Qatar, the Sports Minister told Parliament due to the current global economic situation, which has also hit the country, the government would not be funding supporters to Qatar.
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Instead, he noted, the Ministry of Sports would seek support from corporate institutions to be able to send a few Ghanaians, who would be joined by Ghanaians and Africans based in Qatar to support the Black Stars.
That has since happened, with the Ministry sending a few Ghanaians to Qatar.
During a visit to the Ghana Supporters camp to check on the fans on Tuesday (November 29, 2022), Mustapha Ussif stressed on the financial challenges, and how the Ministry is striving to give the supporters the best, with the meagre resources it was able to mobilise.
"All we want to see is to make you very comfortable but you know resources are very scarce. We have global economic challenges and because of the global economic challenges that we find ourselves in, we had to move from one corporate institution to another corporate institution appealing for support. "So the little that we have been able to raise, we will use it on you to support our Stars," said Mustapha Ussif.
"We know there are some challenges but we are human beings and we cannot get everything perfect. We started from Accra with challenges and we got here with challenges but I want to appeal to you to forgive us for any problem you have encountered on your way here."
"We might not get it perfectly, but that is the little we can do. We know we are not here on holidays; we are here to sacrifice, dedicate and work hard to support our Stars."
The Minister thanked the supporters for their strong support to the Black Stars, which he said is urging the team to go all out.
"We are grateful for your unconditional support. Your support from day one, from Accra all the way to Doha. Our first game against Portugal, even when we were down, I was seated behind His Excellency the President and the supporters union was just cheering up the team and we are grateful for your unconditional support," he added.
The Ministry of Youth and Sports, together with the Ghana Embassy in Qatar, have also mobilised over 1,000 Ghanaians and Africans based in Qatar, to offer more support to the Black Stars.
The Ministry provides them with match tickets to be able to access the stadium.