The more than 50 Ghanaians who tried to gain entry to Australia under the guise of covering the Commonwealth Games as journalists were caught out when they were unable to answer questions about the sport. The deportees, although in possession of genuine travelling documents, were arrested and detained after they failed to answer the sports-related questions which they should ordinarily be familiar with.
The country’s Deputy Sports Minister, Pious Enam Hadidze, says an investigation has been opened into the development.
However, he denied the ministry had anything to do with helping them get the visas in the first place.
The denial came after one of the deportees told Ghana-based radio station, Atinka FM, that officials of the Ghana Olympics Sports Committee and the Ministry of Sports were paid between $2,000 and $5,000 (£1,400 - £3,550) to have their visas processed as journalists for the Games.
