Lawyer for former National Sports Authority (NSA) Director-General Yaw Ampofo Ankrah has rejected allegations linking his client to a scheme that allegedly collected money from Ghanaians seeking visa and travel assistance for the 2026 FIFA World Cup.

According to Jerry Avenorgbor, investigations into the matter will establish that Mr Ankrah had no role in collecting money from prospective travellers or facilitating visa arrangements.

“My client has not done it. My client has not been in physical form, present with anybody, collected and taken money to do anything,” he said on Accra-based Channel One on Thursday, October 1.

The allegations centre on claims that more than US$600,000 was collected from people seeking assistance to travel to the tournament, with the Minority in Parliament alleging that some applicants were charged as much as US$8,000.

Mr Avenorgbor, however, described the allegations against his client as false and intended to damage his reputation.

“These are falsities and untruths,” he said, adding that “investigations will reveal the pure truth behind what is happening.”

He said the investigation was being handled by the Economic Crime Unit at the Police Headquarters and had been ongoing for several weeks.

“The matter as we speak is at the police headquarters, the economic unit, and they’ve been investigating for weeks now,” he said.

According to the lawyer, investigators have already invited several individuals and organisations connected to the matter as part of efforts to establish what happened.

He also sought to distinguish the NSA from Tribe, a private company he said was involved in activities related to the World Cup.

“It’s not the NSA that Tribe worked for,” Mr Avenorgbor said.

The NSA has previously denied authorising any visa facilitation or money-collection arrangement linked to the World Cup and said its legal team was cooperating with the police investigation.

Mr Avenorgbor maintained that his client had not engaged in the alleged conduct and urged the public to allow investigators to complete their work.

“My client has not done anything in this regard. This is information being peddled to denigrate the reputation of my client,” he said.

“Time will reveal, and that’s it,” he added.