World Cup: $1.26m spent on 2,922 tickets – Sports Minister

The Ministry of Sports and Recreation spent approximately $1.26 million to procure 2,922 tickets for Ghana’s matches at the 2026 FIFA World Cup, Minister Kofi Adams has told Parliament.

The tickets covered Ghana’s group-stage fixtures against Panama, England and Croatia. The Ministry procured 948 tickets for the Panama match, 1,000 for the England game and 974 for the Croatia fixture.

Appearing before Parliament’s Youth and Sports Committee on Thursday, September 17, Mr Adams said the tickets were not intended for sale.

He explained that the prices included a 10 per cent administrative charge permitted by FIFA, in addition to each ticket’s face value.

“We spent about $1.26 million in the procurement of the 2,922 tickets,” he said.

For Ghana’s match against Panama, the Ministry procured 100 Category One tickets with a face value of $450 each. Including the administrative charge, each ticket cost $495.

The Ministry also acquired supporter premium, supporter standard, supporter value and supporter entry tickets, which had different face values and corresponding prices after the charge.

For the England fixture, the Ministry procured 1,000 tickets, including 100 Category One tickets with a face value of $600 each. The actual cost of each of those tickets, including the administrative charge, was $660.

For Ghana’s match against Croatia, 974 tickets were procured. The 100 Category One tickets had a face value of $500 each and cost $550 apiece after the charge.

Mr Adams said the tickets were distributed among members of the Ghana Supporters Union, Ghana’s High Commissions in Canada and the United States, Ghanaians in the diaspora, the Ghana Students Association, the official government delegation and selected Ghana Football Association officials.

He said the initial plan was to allocate more than 800 tickets to supporters, with the remaining tickets going to other Ghanaians.

However, visa application difficulties at some centres affected the arrangements, prompting the Ministry to allocate more tickets to Ghanaians already living in the diaspora.

“The decision was taken that we will give many more of the tickets to Ghanaians who are already in the diaspora to be able to pay,” Mr Adams told the committee.