{"id":49179,"date":"2014-09-19T11:13:30","date_gmt":"2014-09-19T11:13:30","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/4cd.e16.myftpupload.com\/?p=49179"},"modified":"2014-09-19T11:40:46","modified_gmt":"2014-09-19T11:40:46","slug":"hosting-afcon-wont-cripple-struggling-economy-ayariga","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/2014\/09\/hosting-afcon-wont-cripple-struggling-economy-ayariga\/","title":{"rendered":"Hosting AFCON won\u2019t ‘cripple’ struggling economy \u2013 Ayariga"},"content":{"rendered":"
Sports Minister, Mahama Ayariga has given the assurance that the country\u2019s bid to host the 2017 African Cup of Nations\u2019 (AFCON) tournament will not hurt Ghana\u2019s finances.<\/p>\n
Mr. Ayariga has setup an 11-member committee<\/strong><\/span><\/a> to lead the country to bid for the hosting rights after 2008.<\/p>\n Many have expressed concern about Ghana\u2019s capacity to host the tournament in the face numerous economic challenges.<\/p>\n But the sector Minister says Ghanaians should stop worrying with the explanation that little will be spent on existing infrastructure which were constructed ahead of the 2008 AFCON which was hosted in Ghana.<\/p>\n [contextly_sidebar id=”7319pxSroHjZHgbvS85c5TvNebVpSlHW”]He recalled that government pumped a lot of funds into projects construction saying, \u201cthe reconstruction of existing stadia for the 2008 AFCON was a major reconstruction so a lot of money went into it but the current rehabilitation doesn\u2019t really require significant amounts of investments so Ghanaians should be rest assured that not that much investment will go into rehabilitating the stadia.\u201d<\/p>\n Ayariga maintained that in terms of infrastructure, \u201cwe are okay. There isn\u2019t much investments that need to go from government to host the tournament.\u201d<\/p>\n He was certain that corporate Ghana will pitch in to help since ultimately, they will be beneficiaries if Ghana wins the bid.<\/p>\n \u201cHotels will make money, businesses will make money foreigners will come into this country with foreign exchange so overall, we stand to benefit from investments that we made in the past and the little that we need to add this time will derive the benefits,\u201d he assured.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, the minister has\u00a0appointed former Black Stars captain Abedi Pele and\u00a010 others as members of a committee to lead Ghana\u2019s bid<\/strong> <\/span><\/a>to host the 2017 Africa Cup of Nations.<\/p>\n