The Minority in Parliament has accused the government of extortion and fraud over the World Cup Bonanza Raffle, demanding a special audit into the organisation and financial arrangements of the promotion.
The caucus alleges that 220 participants who entered the first raffle, hoping to win fully funded trips to the United States and Canada for the 2026 FIFA World Cup, were left uncertain about the fate of their money after the promotion was cancelled.
It has also raised concerns about a second raffle, claiming that winners were given only 95 minutes to submit their travel documents to a contact in Mali, with a warning that failure to meet the deadline would result in the forfeiture of their prizes.
Addressing journalists on Thursday, November 5, the Ranking Member on Parliament’s Youth and Sports Committee, Vincent Ekow Assafuah, questioned the handling of the first raffle and demanded clarity on whether all participants had been refunded.
Mr Assafuah also questioned the fate of participants and winners of the first raffle, asking whether they had received refunds or travelled to the tournament.
“The big question that we should be asking is: who were the lucky winners for the first raffle? Were their monies refunded? Were they taken to the US or Canada? Were all the monies from the Ghanaian people refunded to them, whether they won or not? How many winners actually travelled? What happened to the rest?” he asked.
He called on the government to publish the financial arrangements underpinning the advertised prizes and disclose how the proceeds from the raffle were accounted for.
The Minority is demanding disclosure of whether the National Lottery Authority (NLA) licensed or partnered in the raffle, as well as the contract awarded to the operators and the identities of those behind the website ghworldcupraffle.com.
Mr Assafuah also called for an account of the 2,922 match tickets allegedly purchased with public funds, including how many were allocated to raffle winners and whether they were eventually used.
“We also want them to publish the Bonanza ticket sales, prize fund and goodwill transfers, and the government raffles revenue and any surplus paid into Ghana’s Sports Fund,” he said.
He further demanded evidence that the advertised prizes had been delivered and called for full compensation for participants who, he alleged, had been deceived.
The Minority has petitioned the Auditor-General to conduct a special audit of both raffles, which Mr Assafuah identified as the November 4 raffle and the March 18, 2026, raffle, as well as the World Cup fund.
It also wants Parliament’s Youth and Sports Committee to take evidence on the raffles as part of its ongoing inquiry into the World Cup visa scandal.
Additionally, the caucus has called on the Data Protection Commission to investigate how the passports and personal information of winners were collected, stored and shared.
In response, the Minister for Sports and Recreation, Kofi Adams, has stated that all participants in the first raffle have been refunded.
He added that the government is working to provide financial compensation to the remaining winners of the second raffle who were unable to travel to the 2026 FIFA World Cup
