No member of Ghana’s government-sponsored delegation to the 2026 FIFA World Cup has remained in the United States or Canada after the tournament, according to the Minister for Sports and Recreation, Kofi Adams.

A report that circulated in July, disclosed that the Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) received asylum applications from some Ghanaians who travelled to Canada for the 2026 FIFA World Cup.

Ghana records 25 out of 175 asylum applications made by foreign visitors who entered Canada on temporary permits issued in connection with the 2026 FIFA World Cup.

IRCC clarified that the figures only include applicants who listed “FIFA World Cup 26” as the purpose of their temporary residence applications. This information was contained in a report according to The Globe and Mail newspaper in Canada.

"Of the 26,111 individuals with prior FIFA-related approved temporary residence applications, 175 people later submitted asylum claims," IRCC said in a statement as reported by The Globe and Mail newspaper in Canada.

Breaking down the figures for the countries, IRCC disclosed that China recorded 25 asylum claims, Egypt and Colombia each recorded 15 claims Ecuador, Burundi, Nepal and Pakistan each accounted for five applications apiece while Senegal, Bangladesh and Nigeria recorded 10 each.

Applications for asylum by foreign sports teams, officials, or support personnel are not unusual. Following the 2014 World Cup in Brazil, about 200 Ghanaians sought asylum, alleging religious persecution, although the Government of Ghana dismissed the claims as baseless.

However, Sports and Recreation Minister Kofi Adams said the Ghanaian government had received no formal notification from either US or Canadian authorities of any delegation member overstaying after the tournament.

He clarified when he appeared before Parliament’s Youth and Sports Committee. He stated, “They don’t have that information. This information may be one of the fake  news,”.

“This matter of anybody overstaying his or her visa was never raised with us. They have never written to the Minister for Foreign Affairs that any such thing happened”.

“And so I don’t know the time you became the American ambassador in Ghana for you to know much about Ghanaians who have travelled there and have not returned,” he said.