The Executive Director of the Chamber of Petroleum Consumers (COPEC), Duncan Amoah, has defended Sports and Recreation Minister Kofi Adams against attempts to implicate him in the controversy surrounding visa arrangements for Ghanaian travellers to the 2026 FIFA World Cup, arguing that there is no documentary evidence establishing that the disputed list of prospective travellers originated from the minister.
Speaking on Channel One TV’s The Big Issue with Umaru Sanda Amadu on Saturday, October 17, Amoah said attempts to link Adams to the scandal amounted to “fishing.” “In the absence of any documentary evidence that it originated from the minister, I think that we are going fishing, honestly, and we should not,” he said.
Amoah argued that Adams had handled the situation more intelligently than previous administrations managed similar World Cup-related arrangements, citing past controversies involving Ghanaian football delegations where concerns were raised about the use of public funds and the provision of accommodation for supporters. He noted that individuals in the current controversy had purchased their own match tickets without placing the same financial burden on the state.
Suspension Does Not Imply Ministerial Culpability
The COPEC executive cautioned against concluding that the Sports Minister had failed in his duties simply because Yaw Ampofo-Ankrah, the Director-General of the National Sports Authority (NSA), had been suspended over the controversy. President John Dramani Mahama suspended Ampofo-Ankrah on October 1 pending investigations into the alleged visa facilitation scheme .
“I think that we can detach the sentiments or emotions that say, look, once the NSA guy has been suspended, then there’s a presupposition that the minister also didn’t do his work well,” Amoah said. “If the minister clearly didn’t do his work well, the NSA guy wouldn’t be fired. That is my conclusion.”
He further argued that if Adams had been complicit in the alleged wrongdoing, there would likely have been attempts to protect the former NSA director to prevent the controversy from affecting the government. According to Amoah, the minister’s account of the established procedures for transmitting the list of prospective travellers—initially through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs before an arrangement was made for the Sports Ministry to handle the transmission—did not, on its own, establish wrongdoing.
“If this is all the crime for which you want to hang the minister, I bet we’ll hang all other ministers in this country,” he said.
Background: A Scandal Spiralling Beyond One Official
The controversy centres on allegations that more than US$600,000 was collected from individuals seeking assistance with visa applications and travel arrangements for the 2026 FIFA World Cup, co-hosted by the United States, Canada, and Mexico . The Minority in Parliament has alleged that some officials facilitated visa applications for individuals who were not Ministry staff, presenting outsiders as Ministry personnel to enable them to obtain visas .
The Minority has demanded the dismissal and prosecution of Adams and the Chief Executive Officer of the Ghana Tourism Authority, arguing that the documentary trail points to a wider chain of institutional involvement extending beyond the suspended NSA Director-General . The governing New Patriotic Party has also called on Parliament to summon Adams to answer questions over the arrangements .
Adams has denied personal involvement, stating that the NSA, the GTA, the US Embassy, and Tribe Culture Fest handled the arrangements without the Ministry’s knowledge until a May 19 letter requesting the forwarding of event coordinators and volunteers was brought to his attention . He has accused Tribe Culture Fest of defrauding individuals who paid for visa assistance, while the company has denied receiving the disputed funds and challenged the minister to provide evidence .
Amoah said he would be interested in examining evidence of any misappropriation of public funds allocated for the tournament, particularly if the approximately US$2 million earmarked for the World Cup could not be accounted for. “If you come to tell me that the minister chopped Ghana money, the monies allocated for the World Cup, two million, cannot be accounted for, I would personally be interested in the mischief,” he said.
The Criminal Investigation Department of the Ghana Police Service is investigating the matter, while a separate government committee is examining Ghana’s overall World Cup campaign .
