Brazil 2014: There was nothing wrong with transporting money – Elvis Afriyie Ankrah

There was nothing wrong with transporting money to Brazil during the 2014 World Cup, Elvis Afriyie Ankrah, the then Minister for Youth and Sports has stated.

All legal procedures and protocols were observed before the country transported cash to Brazil to pay allowances of the Ghana Senior National Team the Black Stars at the 2014 World Cup held in Brazil, former Minister for Youth and Sports Mr Elvis Afriyie Ankrah has said.

According to him, the money was never smuggled to the South American nation neither was the practice illegal as was alleged by some persons.

“What people should know is that, we didn’t smuggle the money. At every tournament, we carry money, whether is the best or not that’s a different matter. FIFA was aware. We told them we had a crisis so we were bringing money.

"The Brazilian National Security, the Brazilian Immigration, the Brazilian Customs, were aware and we had documents”, Mr Elvis Afriyie Ankrah told Atta Poku on Somapa FM in an interview monitored by MyNewsGH.com.

The Former Minister revealed in the interview that the issue of transporting cash from Ghana to Brazil arose after the Black Star players led by Asamoah Gyan, Stephen Appiah, Dede Ayew among others insisted they needed cash before they could play at the tournament.

“After playing our first match, by then there was an arrangement between UniBank and the GFA for their money to be paid electronically but they told me they won’t accept E – Money. In fact the main issue was that, they said we had deceived them for far too long so they were not sure when the money was paid through the bank, they were going to get their $100,000 bonus.

"The only way they could be sure was to take cash. That was the root of the issue”, Mr Afriyie Ankra narrated.

He hinted that at that point, he was torn between rubbishing their concerns and saying if you like stop playing or find a way to solve the situation.

“So I called the National Security and told them we had a problem. This is the situation, and he asked if the money was available and I said yes. So we got the money and made arrangements," he said.

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