Minority calls for special audit of government's 2026 World Cup raffles

The Ranking Member of Parliament’s Youth and Sports Committee, Vincent Ekow Assafuah, has called on the Auditor-General to conduct a special audit of the two World Cup raffles organised by the government amid concerns over the management of funds raised from participants.

The Old Tafo MP is demanding a comprehensive account of the money collected, the winners and the prizes promised, insisting that participants who paid but were unable to travel must be compensated.

Speaking to the media in Parliament on Thursday, November 5, Assafuah questioned the fate of participants in the first raffle, which he claimed was cancelled without refunds before a second exercise was introduced.

He cited the example of a street hawker who could have spent GH¢10,000 through multiple GH¢10 entries, only for the government to cancel the exercise without returning the money.

Assafuah wants the government to clarify whether participants in the first raffle were refunded, how many winners travelled to the United States or Canada and what arrangements were made for those who could not travel.

He also called for the disclosure of the financial arrangements surrounding the advertised prizes, the contract with the raffle operator and clarification on whether the National Lottery Authority (NLA) licensed or partnered in the exercise.

The MP further demanded an account of the 2,922 World Cup tickets purchased with public funds, including how many were allocated to raffle winners and whether they were eventually used.

He wants the Auditor-General to examine both raffles, held on November 4 and March 18, 2026, as well as the World Cup fund.

Assafuah has also urged Parliament’s Youth and Sports Committee to include the raffle arrangements in its ongoing investigation into the visa controversy.

In addition, he has called on the Data Protection Commission to investigate how the passports and personal information of raffle winners were collected, stored and shared.

His demands come amid growing scrutiny of the government's World Cup travel arrangements following revelations by Sports Minister Kofi Adams that only five of the 31 winners of the second raffle secured US visas.

Adams has said the government is working on compensation arrangements for those who could not travel, while maintaining that the money raised through the second raffle remains untouched.