US Embassy recognised NSA, GFA and GTA as separate entities for visa applications – Sports Minister’s aide

The special aide to the Sports Minister, Wonder Sitsofe Mandel, says the United States Embassy recognises the National Sports Authority (NSA), Ghana Football Association (GFA) and Ghana Tourism Authority (GTA) as separate entities eligible to submit visa applications.

His comments follow allegations by the Member of Parliament for Old Tafo, Vincent Ekow Assafuah, that more than 30 people were misrepresented to the US Embassy as board members or affiliates of the GTA in connection with engagements surrounding the 2026 FIFA World Cup.

Mr Assafuah, speaking on JoyNews’ Newsfile on Saturday, October 10, questioned why a document submitted to the embassy listed more than 30 people as GTA board members or affiliates when the authority’s board comprised about 11 members.

He called for the suspension of the GTA Chief Executive Officer, Maame Efua Sekyi-Aidoo Houadjeto, to allow investigations into the alleged misrepresentation.

Responding to the allegations, Mr Mandel said an engagement between the Sports Ministry and the US Embassy on April 9, 2026, addressed visa application procedures and concerns about fraud.

He said the meeting provided an opportunity for Sports Minister Kofi Adams to alert the embassy to an incident in which someone allegedly impersonated him during a phone call in an attempt to defraud another person.

According to Mr Mandel, the embassy subsequently issued a diplomatic note proposing a technical working group to streamline visa application procedures.

The group met on April 24, 2026, and included representatives from the Sports Ministry, the GFA, the US Embassy and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Mr Mandel said the group was tasked with establishing a streamlined process for transmitting visa application requests from state institutions and affiliated stakeholders to the embassy.

He added that the embassy had indicated that the NSA, GFA and GTA were recognised as separate entities and could submit visa applications independently. Group applications were also permitted when the number of applicants exceeded 10, he said.

“These processes are actually legitimate processes, but the question is that if anyone takes advantage of these processes to defraud Ghanaians or to misrepresent people, the law must take its course,” he said.

Mr Mandel stressed that the existence of the procedures did not rule out possible wrongdoing and insisted that anyone found culpable must face the law.

He has also challenged Mr Assafuah’s account of correspondence between the NSA, the Sports Ministry and the US Embassy, saying the ministry’s response to the embassy, dated May 28, expanded an initial list of four applicants to 92.

The aide maintained that the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) was investigating the allegations and that the ministry would not shield anyone found to have collected money unlawfully, abused official processes or benefited improperly.

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