Ex-Deputy Sports Minister Pius Hadzide wants answers on why the NSA hosted Tribe Culture Fest as a $623,000 World Cup visa row rocks Ghana.
Ghana's road to the 2026 FIFA World Cup is now tangled in a governance scandal at home. Former Deputy Sports Minister Pius Enam Hadzide is demanding to know why the National Sports Authority (NSA) set up a secretariat for Tribe Culture Fest, as allegations swirl over money collected to help supporters secure visas.
According to the allegations, people linked to the NSA gathered roughly $623,000 to facilitate visas for fans planning to travel to the tournament. The scheme reportedly ran in partnership with Tribe Culture Fest, an organisation that was given office space at the Accra Sports Stadium. The Ghana Police Criminal Investigations Department is now looking into the claims.
Both the NSA and the Sports Ministry have denied wrongdoing. The NSA says it never authorised the collection of money and never operated a visa facilitation office. Hadzide is not convinced the picture is that simple. Speaking on Joy News, he argued that someone must be held accountable for each step of the process, and he pointed to an appointment he says sits outside the authority's official organisational structure.
Hadzide, who served under the Akufo-Addo government, said the alleged payments and official correspondence give investigators solid grounds to examine the roles played by every individual and institution involved. For Ghanaian supporters dreaming of following the Black Stars to the World Cup, the stakes are clear: trust, transparency and their hard-earned money. All eyes now turn to the police investigation for answers.
