Ghana’s Minister for Sports and Recreation, Kofi Adams, has confirmed that the Black Stars’ $9 million FIFA World Cup group-stage earnings will be channelled into the newly established Sports Fund.
Countries that qualify for the expanded 48-team 2026 FIFA World Cup are guaranteed a minimum of $10.5 million, made up of $9 million in participation prize money and an additional $1.5 million earmarked for preparation.
According to the minister in an interview with CitiSports, the timing of Ghana’s World Cup push influenced the creation of the fund.
“If you observe the justification for the agency of the bill we took to Parliament, one of the things we indicated was the period, and that we wanted to take advantage of the period we found ourselves in.
“What is the period? Preparation for the FIFA World Cup. We want to insist that the bill, as it is now when signed by the President, becomes an act.”
Adams explained that income from international tournaments will serve as a major source of funding for the initiative.
“One of the sources is proceeds from competitions and tournaments. For example, what FIFA is going to give us as a country is $9 million. The $1.5 million is for preparation, so that will go into preparation.”
“But the $9 million would go into the fund, for example. Unless we incur some other cost that we just have to deduct from it. If we don’t, we are going to put everything into the fund.”
The minister stressed that Ghana’s participation at the 2026 World Cup must leave lasting benefits beyond the tournament itself.
“So we intend to have projects that we can show that in our participation in the US of A, Canada and Mexico World Cup 2026, this is what we are able to do.”
