Ghana’s Sports and Recreation Minister, Kofi Adams, has outlined plans for the country’s earnings from qualifying for the 2026 FIFA World Cup. Under FIFA’s prize structure for the expanded 48-team tournament, each participating nation is guaranteed a minimum of $10.5 million even if eliminated in the group stage.
This breaks down into $9 million as the base participation prize for reaching the group stage and an additional $1.5 million allocated specifically for preparation costs. According to Minister Adams, the $1.5 million preparation portion will be used directly for team preparations ahead of the tournament, hosted in the United States, Canada, and Mexico.
However, the larger $9 million sum is intended to be channeled entirely into Ghana’s newly established Sports Development Fund—a dedicated mechanism recently passed into law by Parliament on December 18, 2025, aimed at providing structured, long-term financing for sports infrastructure, athlete welfare, grassroots development, and other disciplines beyond football.
“The $9million from the World Cup will go into the Sports Fund Bill, unless we incur some other costs that we have to deduct something from it”, he told Citisports.
Adams emphasized that this approach marks a shift toward transparency and legacy-building, allowing the funds to support visible projects like new facilities that can be directly linked to World Cup participation.
He noted that the anticipation of these World Cup revenues was a key factor in prioritizing the Sports Fund Bill. That said, he qualified the commitment by adding that the full $9 million would go into the fund “unless we incur some other costs that we have to deduct something from it,” leaving room for potential adjustments if unforeseen expenses arise.
This approach represents a deliberate departure from past practices, where FIFA monies—such as those from previous World Cups—faced criticism over lack of transparency and accountability, including notable scandals like player bonus disputes in 2014.
By routing earnings through the new legal framework, the government seeks to ensure broader, long-term benefits across Ghanaian sports. Public and stakeholder reactions have been largely positive toward the fund’s passage as a historic milestone, though some express ongoing caution about implementation and the flexibility for deductions.