Sports News of Friday, 27 July 2018

Source: footballmadeinghana.com

Government suspends support for cheer groups

The Sports Ministry says it is unwise to use state funds to support such activities The Sports Ministry says it is unwise to use state funds to support such activities

Government has announced it will no longer offer any form of support to organized cheer groups for all national teams.

The state has been recently coerced into funding trips of supporter groups to cheer athletes in international competitions.

Such groups have been positioning themselves to benefit from similar support in the upcoming FIFA U20 Women’s World Cup to be staged in France early next month.

But the Ministry of Sports in a statement says it will no longer offer such a support especially in the aftermath of the visa scandal that marred Ghana’s participation in the 2018 Commonwealth Games in Australia.

“The Ministry of Youth and Sports has suspended any form of support to Supporters’ Groups and Media Houses who intend to solicit Government assistance to travel to tournament venues for our national teams,” the statement read.

Ghana’s participation in recent major tournaments has been rocked by issues relating to the state-sponsored airlifting of supporters to cheer national teams.

The state has however been often warned against the use of public funds to undertake such projects especially after the 2014 World Cup.