Ghana’s foreign-based players pay for their own travel

With Ghana’s preparations for their final 2017 Africa Cup of Nations qualifier in shambles, many of the national team’s players have decided to pay for their own travel ahead of the match.


This follows the near-sabotage of Sports Minister Nii Lante Vanderpuye, who told coach Avram Grant to name a locally-based team for the match and then ordered travel agents to withhold plane tickets for Ghana’s overseas professionals.

Both Grant and the players have shrugged off the minister’s attempts to interfere, with GHANASoccernet reporting that many of the overseas professionals are paying for their own travel in order to ensure that the Black Stars honour the fixture.

And Andre Ayew has stepped up more than most, with the injured West Ham United player paying for tickets for those players who cannot afford to do so themselves.

The Black Stars will hope this measure sees them fulfil the fixture against Rwanda in Accra on Saturday.

Ghana have already secured qualification for the 2017 AFCON, but failure to honour a fixture would lead to a ban from the Confederation of African Football.