Questions over Ghana’s World Cup visa arrangements have deepened after the Parliamentary Minority alleged that only 15 of 102 people submitted to the Canadian Embassy as National Sports Authority personnel or affiliates could be verified as NSA employees.
The Minority says the remaining 87 names require explanations, raising fresh questions about who compiled the list, who approved it and why people allegedly outside the NSA were presented to a foreign diplomatic mission under the authority of a public institution.
According to the Minority’s account, the NSA submitted the 102-name list to the Canadian Embassy on June 8, 2026, after the embassy requested information including applicants’ employment status, roles and reasons for travelling to Canada. The caucus claims its checks against NSA records established that only 15 were genuine employees, while some of the other applicants were allegedly assigned positions that did not exist within the Authority’s organisational structure.
The allegations form part of a wider controversy involving the NSA, Ghana Tourism Authority, Ministry of Sports and Recreation and TRIBE Culture Fest. The Minority has also raised questions about an alleged arrangement under which some applicants were charged between US$7,000 and US$14,000 for visa and travel-related assistance. Earlier reports put the total amount allegedly collected at about US$623,000.
The image of the alleged arrangement becomes more complicated because the Minority says the official NSA arrangement cited fees of about US$3,000 for United States travel and US$2,000 for Canada, while some applicants were allegedly charged substantially more. Those figures have been presented by the Minority as questions requiring investigation rather than established evidence of wrongdoing.
The caucus has also questioned a reported submission of 50 people to the US Embassy as media personnel. According to the Minority, the embassy’s Fraud Prevention Unit reviewed the names and identified only two as media practitioners. The US Embassy’s alleged scrutiny also forms part of questions surrounding people who were presented as NSA officials.
The Minority says some applicants were assigned positions that allegedly did not exist within the NSA structure, while others were presented as NSA personnel despite allegedly not being employees. It has called for investigators to establish who prepared the lists, who verified the information, who authorised the submissions and who paid for the processing.
The GTA has also come under scrutiny. The Minority says documents point to arrangements involving the authority and TRIBE Culture Fest for visa processing and accommodation for personnel travelling to the World Cup. It is demanding an investigation into the GTA’s role and the use of public institutional channels in the process.
The Minority has consequently called for investigations into Sports Minister Kofi Adams, GTA CEO Maame Afua Houadjeto, NSA officials, Ministry of Sports and Recreation officials, TRIBE Culture Fest and other individuals implicated by the documents.
It is also demanding answers over the reported allocation and use of visa slots, including how many applications were submitted, approved or rejected and who authorised the relationships between the public institutions and private actors involved.
The controversy intensified after President John Dramani Mahama removed Yaw Ampofo Ankrah as NSA Director-General, with Professor Emmanuel Osei Sarpong taking over in an acting capacity. Security authorities are continuing to investigate the underlying allegations. The NSA, however, has maintained that it did not authorise a visa facilitation or money-collection scheme, saying its collaboration with TRIBE FEST related to fan engagement, viewing events and mobilisation and did not permit the collection of money for visa procurement.
That denial is central to the investigation now facing Ghanaian authorities. The key questions remain: Who prepared the visa lists? Who approved the descriptions attached to applicants? Who authorised the financial arrangements? Where did the alleged US$623,000 go? And did any public official or private entity unlawfully benefit?
Until investigators establish the facts, the allegations remain claims by the Parliamentary Minority and have not been proven as criminal conduct.
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