World Cup raffle: Minority seeks audit over GH¢ contributions and match tickets

The Minority in Parliament is calling for an independent examination of the World Cup Bonanza Raffle, accusing the government of failing to account adequately for money collected from participants and demanding full disclosure of the promotion’s financial arrangements.

The caucus says 220 people who entered the initial draw, attracted by promises of fully funded trips to the United States and Canada for the 2026 FIFA World Cup, have been left with unanswered questions following the cancellation of the exercise.

It has also raised concerns over the second raffle, alleging that winners were given only 95 minutes to submit their travel documents to a contact in Mali or risk losing their prizes.

The Ranking Member of Parliament’s Youth and Sports Committee, Vincent Ekow Assafuah, said the government must establish whether participants in the cancelled raffle received refunds and explain how their contributions were handled.

“They boycotted the first raffle after they had taken money from the Ghanaian people. So, if you are a street hawker and you believed in this process and staked a lottery of about GH¢10,000, each stake constituting GH¢10, then the government will say we have cancelled it, without refunding their monies to them,” he said.

Speaking to journalists on Thursday, November 5, Mr Assafuah also demanded details of those who won the first draw, whether they received their promised trips and how many eventually travelled to the tournament. He questioned what became of the money paid by participants who did not win.

The Minority wants the government to publish the contracts and financial agreements governing the promotion, disclose the identities of the operators behind ghworldcupraffle.com and clarify whether the National Lottery Authority (NLA) issued a licence or entered into a partnership for the exercise.

It is also demanding a detailed account of the 2,922 World Cup match tickets allegedly bought with public funds, including the number allocated to raffle winners and whether the tickets were used.