Fact CheckSports

Reports of Black Stars’ jerseys yet to arrive in Qatar, FALSE

Claim: Social media users share that jerseys for the Black Stars for the FIFA World Cup have been mistakenly left behind. 

Verdict: We have found the assertion to be false.

Full text

Reports suggesting that Ghana’s senior male football team is currently without their jerseys for the FIFA World Cup have gone viral.

According to these reports, the officers in charge of the kits “mistakenly left the jerseys behind in Ghana.”

Claimants add that the Ghana Football Association is now making arrangements for the jerseys to be transported to the team, which has set camp in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, ahead of the tournament, which commences on November 20.

Among those making the claim are verified accounts on Twitter, such as here and here.

Other social media accounts that have made similar assertions can be found here, here, here, and here.

Verification

DUBAWA first reached out to some of the claimants to find their source of information, but none responded.

The General Secretary of the Ghana Football Association, Prosper Harrison Addo, has since dispelled the claim.

In a tweet, he said that the “Black Stars have no jersey issues whatsoever.”

“PUMA sent Black Stars’ equipment, including match jerseys, directly to Doha as per the plan.”

“The team are [sic] using some of this equipment at the training camp,” he continued.

As part of our investigation, we spoke to Yaw Ofosu, a Sports Journalist with Accra-based TV3 who is with the team.  

He told us that the reports were false. 

“The claim is false. The equipment officer, Alex Asante, mailed the kits to Qatar because it is of no use shipping them here to Abu Dhabi, where they are based and then get them back to Qatar in just a few days,” he told DUBAWA Ghana.

“Puma sends the consignment and Alex handles how it is handled and distributed. Also, the training kits and other apparel have been made available to the team here,” Yaw Ofosu continued.

Moreover, two videos posted on Twitter by the team captured their first training session in Abu Dhabi. In these videos, the players can be seen to have their kits on, which contradicts the claims that have gone viral.

Players in their kit during a training session ahead of their friendly game against Switzerland [Photo credit: Black Stars Twitter].

Conclusion

There is visual evidence that the necessary kits for the Black Stars as they begin pre-tournament preparations are with the team. 

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