Qatar 2022: 2,500 Ghanaian fans to cheer Black Stars in Qatar; 1,200 of them to be flown from Accra

More than 2,000 Ghanaian fans are expected to be at the stadium to cheer the Black Stars on in their first match against Portugal on Thursday, in the ongoing Qatar World Cup.

The Director of Communication of the Ghana Football Association (GFA), Mr Henry Asante Twum, said: “There are about 2200 Ghanaian fans who are resident here. Majority of them will be at the stadium when we take on the Portuguese on Thursday”.

“I am told there are about 1,200 fans being flown in from Accra to Doha as well. So we are expecting not less than 2,500 fans here,” he told Accra-based Joy News in Qatar.

Meanwhile, President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has assured the 26-man Black Stars squad and the entire technical team of the nation’s support.

The president gave the assurance when he met a delegation led by the Minister for Youth and Sports, Mustapha Ussif, made up of the Ghana Football Association (GFA) and the All Supporters Union of Ghana, on Thursday, 17 November 2022 at the Jubilee House to sign the national flag geared towards rallying popular support for the Black Stars team.

President Akufo-Addo noted that the Black Stars, who will be featuring and representing the nation in Qatar, “should know and feel that the entire nation, without the distinction of politics, religion, ethnicity; the entire Ghanaian nation are 100% solidly behind them.”

Optimistic that the team will make the country proud, following their 2-0 victory over Switzerland, in a pre-tournament friendly, President Akufo-Addo said: “I know that they are not there to make up the numbers and that they are going to give a very good account of themselves.”

He wished the Black Stars well in the tournament.

“I want first of all to thank all of you, very much for making the effort to come and see me before the competition starts, so that we can all together wish the black stars the very best of luck.

“All of us know what football means to us in this country and what a very rich history we have in football. History that goes right back to the 50s, and 60s and 70s, 80s and 90s, right up till today; and I’m very confident that the players that have been selected, right up to the excellent technical team that we have under the leadership of Otto Addo, that we are going to give a very good account of ourselves.”

Recounting Pele’s prediction of the 1970s President Akufo-Addo stated: “A long time ago, the greatest footballer that has ever lived, the Brazilian, Edson Arantes do Nascimento, Pele, said that very soon an African country is going to win the African Cup and I know that, when he said that, he had in mind Ghana.”

He, therefore, urged all Ghanaians to “rally round the team, and make sure that we give them our maximum support. They are going to go a long way away to Doha in Qatar, but they should know that the entire nation, without distinction of politics, religion, ethnicity; the entire Ghanaian nation is 100% solidly behind them.

“I am impressed by the arrangements that the Minister for Youth and Sports, has made and all those who are involved in the administration of the Black Stars. Very well-organised and systematic efforts have been made to make sure that we give the Black Stars the best possible conditions, to go forward.”