The Minority in Parliament has called for a broader investigation into an alleged World Cup visa scandal involving the National Sports Authority (NSA), the Ministry of Sports and Recreation, the Ghana Tourism Authority (GTA) and other entities.
Addressing a press conference on Wednesday, October 7, 2026, the Ranking Member on the Parliamentary Committee on Youth and Sports and MP for Old Tafo, Vincent Ekow Assafuah, welcomed President John Dramani Mahama’s decision to dismiss the Director-General of the NSA, Yao Ampofoanka.
Mr Assafuah, however, said the dismissal alone did not address the concerns surrounding the alleged visa arrangements and called for accountability across all institutions and individuals implicated in the matter.
“Accountability cannot and does not end with one individual,” he said.
According to him, the Minority had earlier called for the dismissal of both the NSA Director-General and the Minister of Sports and Recreation, Kofi Adams, following questions raised over the alleged arrangements for visas to enable individuals to travel for the World Cup.
“We raised that call because we believe that, in the face of the serious questions surrounding the alleged World Cup visa arrangements, there was a need for accountability and for the investigation to proceed without the continued presence of the Director-General at the helm of the affairs at the institution, as well as the Minister for Sports, Mr. Kofi Adams,” he said.
Mr Assafuah said documents and records in the possession of the Minority pointed to what he described as a wider chain of institutional involvement extending beyond the former NSA Director-General.
“They raise serious questions about the National Sports Authority, the Ghana Tourism Authority, Tribe, Culture, Fest, and officials within the Ministry of Sports and Recreation,” he said.
He said the matter went beyond ordinary visa applications and concerned the alleged use of the names, authority and credibility of Ghanaian public institutions in dealings with foreign diplomatic missions.
According to him, some individuals seeking visas were allegedly presented as employees, personnel, volunteers or affiliates of public institutions when available records indicated otherwise.
“It concerns positions being attributed to individuals which, according to the institutional records available to us, did not exist within the organisational structure of the National Sports Authority,” Mr Assafuah said.
He also alleged that substantial sums of money had been paid by some individuals seeking to travel.
Mr Assafuah said foreign diplomatic missions had themselves raised questions about the identities and institutional status of some applicants.
He disclosed that the Fraud Prevention Unit of the United States Embassy had identified discrepancies involving four applicants and requested evidence to establish their employment with the NSA.
He added that the Canadian Embassy had subsequently sought clarification on the employment, roles and reasons for travel of persons described as NSA-affiliated applicants.
The Minority MP said the concerns warranted a comprehensive investigation to establish how the alleged arrangements were made, who authorised them and whether public institutions or their identities were improperly used.
He maintained that the President’s decision to remove the former NSA Director-General was an important step but insisted that the broader questions surrounding the alleged visa scandal remained unresolved.
