The outgoing minister of Youth and Sports Elvis Afriyie Ankrah has apologised for the embarrassing and abysmal performance displayed by the Black Stars at the ongoing 2014 World Cup which saw Ghana crash out in the first round of the group.

Ghana, for the first time in its three successive World Cup appearances obtained just one point in Group G after losing 2-1 to the Yankee Boys of the United States, drawing 2-2 with Germany and going down 1-2 to Portugal.

Ghana’s campaign at the 2014 FIFA World Cup has been described by many Ghanaians and sports pundits both in Ghana and on the world stage as worst since the Black Stars' first participated for the first time in Germany 2006.

In that tournament, Brazil kicked out the Stars in the second round.

There was an improved performance in 2010 with the Stars losing to Uruguay in a nail biting encounter in the Quarter Finals but a different story was told in 2014.

The Black Stars boycotted training sessions before their last match against Portugal and demanded that $100,000 appearance fee be paid to them in cash, a threat which forced government of Ghana to airlift a total of $3 million to the South American country. The players after receiving their monies lost to Portugal and were eliminated in the first round.

The players led by Asamoah Gyan, the FA Chairman Kwasi Nyantakyi have since apologised for the poor performance by the Stars.

The reassigned Sports Minister, Mr. Afriyie Ankrah has also joined the chorus of apology.

“I…apologize to all Ghanaians for what happened and also for the behavior of the team both on the field and off the pitch. Many things happened therefore which I will give appropriate account at a right time, needless to say that I feel the pain and disappointment of Ghanaians”, he said.

“I would also like to apologize to the President because I promised him that we were going to make history and we couldn’t and therefore I have disappointed him, and I believe that the lesson we’ve leant in Brazil will help us”, he added.

He congratulated incoming Youth and Sports Minister Mahama Ayariga for his new post assuring that he is ready to help him (Ayariga) to succeed.

He said he will report to the Chief of Staff, Prosper Bani, the President and the new minister before talking to Ghanaians about his version of what actually happened in Brazil.

Afriyie Ankrah took over from Clement Kofi Humado as Minister for Youth and Sports on February 14, 2013 till he was reassigned to the Presidency as a Minister of State on June 28, 2014.