Football fans hoping to support the Black Stars in South Africa on government sponsorship have been left stranded in El-Wak. The stranded fans have been left at the mercy of the weather with no toilet facilities or bathrooms, evoking memories of what pilgrims go through yearly before going to Mecca. Joy Sports’ Stephen Oduro who was at the El-wak Stadium on Monday said the situation is deplorable. “There are no toilet facilities, no bath facilities,” he said, but there are mosquitoes taking a bite at will on the bodies of the stranded supporters. Some of the frustrated supporters have accused officials of nepotism and favouritism. They claim to have gone through all the necessary formalities only to be abandoned. Some of them are demanding the return of their passports so they will go back home. The embittered fans turned their anger on a camera man who was taking shots of the scene. They forcefully attempted to take the camera away from him but was rescued. The claims by the stranded supporters come on the back of similar complaints by some Ghanaian supporters in South Africa. Some of the supporters say they were subjected to some inhuman treatment when the flight on which they were travelling on was diverted to a military base. Sources say the travelers did not inform the South African aviation authorities of their arrival. The flight was said to have been grounded. The government however says it cannot be blamed for the grounding of the flight. Deputy Sports Minister, Nii Nortey Dua said government had fulfilled all formalities and blamed owners of the airline for the grounding. “We chartered the airline, we made sure that the insurance, the taxes and all those things that had to be paid, we took care of those things; we made sure all those things were valid so if the airwaves had been blocked and so on and they had therefore missed their landing slot, that one it is the business of the airline,” he explained. On the stranded supporters in Ghana the minister said the last batch of supporters were airlifted Sunday night. In all a total of 1,000 supporters have been sent to South Africa, he said. Story by Nathan Gadugah/Myjoyonline.com/Ghana