MP Vincent Ekow Assafuah slams the Sports Minister's defense in the World Cup visa scandal, arguing that submitting a list of 90 names carries responsibility.
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The Ranking Member on Parliament's Sports and Recreation Committee, Vincent Ekow Assafuah, says the Sports Minister cannot wash his hands off the 90 names his Ministry submitted to the US Embassy for the 2026 World Cup.
He describes as incompetent, the explanation that the Minister only forwarded the names without responsibility.
Speaking in a special interview on TV3's NewDay on Monday, October 12, 2026, Assafuah said some victims of the scandal have already identified their names in the list.
"One Mr. Alex Mensah says that his two sons; Theophilus Danso and Samuel Oketey Borketey, he paid $10,000 on behalf of those people. Those names are found in the 90 list that you the Minister ferried to the US Embassy," he said.
Assafuah said the US Embassy had already raised red flags about earlier submissions, making him wonder why the Minister did not do due diligence before onward submission of another list.
"When you have been given a public institution to head, there have been wrong signs, red flags raised by the US Embassy that that institution has already given the US Embassy names that do not exist," he stated, adding that the Minister's posture amounts to avoiding responsibility.
"They further provide you with 90 list and you tell me that 'it wasn't me, Shaggy.' I just submitted those names to the US Embassy without any responsibility at all," he stated.
"You are just telling us that you are just a conveyor belt. How incompetent can you be?" Assafuah questioned.
The Old Tafo MP's comments come on the back of allegations that some Ghanaians who sought to travel for the 2026 FIFA World Cup hosted in the US, Mexico and Canada were charged between $8,000 and $9,000 under arrangements involving the NSA, GTA and TRIBE Culture Fest, despite an official agreement of $3,000 for US visas and $2,000 for Canada.
The Ministry of Sports and Recreation has said there is still no evidence that Sports Minister Kofi Adams collected $8,000, $9,000 or $10,000 from any applicant, while GTA CEO Maame Efua Houadjeto has also denied personal involvement in the sale of visas.
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