8000 tickets missing ahead of 2014 World Cup

Some 8,000 tickets supposedly issued to a number of the supporters unions for the recent 2014 World Cup qualifier between Ghana and the Sudan in Kumasi cannot be accounted for, Graphic Sports has gathered.

As a result, pressure is mounting on officials of the National Sports Authority (NSA) to cough out GH¢40,000 being the net value of the tickets, each of which had a face value of GH¢5.

The Black Stars beat their Sudanese counterparts 4-0 at the Baba Yara Stadium in March, but accounting for those 8,000 tickets has triggered a disquiet within the corridors of the Sports Authority, Graphic Sports understands.

The Authority has plunged into this quagmire following claims that the ‘Green Area’ at the stadium which contained about 8,000 spectators was given out to the supporter unions free of charge. Yet there are no documents to support that claim, sources have hinted Graphic Sports.

At least, officials of the Die Hard Supporters Union have told Graphic Sports that they entered the stadium free of charge and without tickets, too. But the whereabouts of those tickets remain a mystery that auditors are struggling to unravel, the sources said.

The officials of the Die Hard Supporters Union, indeed, stated in interviews with Graphic Sports that they did not receive any ticket for the match but instead the NSA granted over 200 members of the group free entry using a designated gate.

“We were not given tickets, but rather Die Hard Supporters, numbering over 200, were allowed to enter the stadium free by the National Sports Authority. In the previous Black Stars match we were offered tickets but we turned them down because we didin’t like the seats alloted for us, so we bought our own ticket,” said Abraham Nkansah, President of Die Hard Supporters Union.

Information pieced together by the Graphic Sports indicate that the development had pressed the panic button as officials of the Sports Authority are still struggling to reconcile the figures with the number of tickets issued out.

Though it has been over two months since the game was played, the source stated that they are unable to produce a report on the match as directed by the Ministry.

When this paper contacted Saka Acquaye, Ashanti Regional Sports Development Officer on the issue, he said he could not speak on the matter and deferred it to another officer who was unable to provide any reasonable answer.

The acting Director General of the NSA, Ms Alice Attipoe, who said she was on her way out of town when Graphic Sports contacted her yesterday said she was unaware of the issue and could discuss the matter when she returned.