Communications Director of the Ghana Football Association (GFA), Henry Asante Twum, has disclosed that the country earned $9.5 million despite exiting at the group phase of the 2022 World Cup.

The Black Stars, having suffered a defeat against Portugal in their opener, recorded a hard-fought win against South Korea in their second Group H game.

Ahead of their final group game against Uruguay, Ghana needed a draw to book a place in the last 16 but suffered a 2-0 defeat to exit the tournament.

Speaking in an interview, Asante Twum confirmed the said amount and also revealed that the country’s football governing body plans to use the money from the tournament to refurbish the Ghanaman Soccer Center of Excellence.

“Ghana earned $9.5 million at the group stage of the World Cup,” he said on Asempa FM on the Ultimate Sports Show.

“The plan now is to turn Ghanaman Centre of Excellence into at least a 3-star hotel with a 60 to 70 capacity. We want to raise the standard of the Ghanaman Soccer Centre of Excellence so that it can host matches of all our national teams,” he added.

Meanwhile, before the tournament, the Sports Ministry had estimated that $8 million will be spent on the Black Stars’ group stage campaign.

However, Sports Minister Mustapha Ussif confirmed after the World Cup that $5,171, 840 was spent on the team in Qatar, thereby saving almost $3 million on the initially estimated budget.

The Black Stars’ next assignment will be in March when they play in the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) qualifiers.