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Sports Minister Mahama Ayariga has approved $21,362 for the Ghana beach soccer team for their participation at the beach soccer championships in South Africa [Durban].

The Black Sharks were close in withdrawing from the beach soccer championships due to lack of funds. But the approval of the $21,362 by the Sports Minister will hence reduce the burden on the team as they embark on their campaign in Durban.

This means the association will still have to find the outstanding $15,550 which was not approved.

Black Sharks protocol officer Kusi Awere Gyamfi confirmed this to GSMA saying the team and officials would leave Accra on Wednesday and arrive in South Africa on Thursday ahead of their opening game against one of the favorite of the tournament Nigeria on Friday.

CAL Bank stepped in to take up 50% of the cost with a package of $20,000 for the beach soccer team which was followed by a promise from the Sports Minister to absorb the rest of the budget.

However as at Wednesday morning, only the approval has been given leaving the association to look for hard cash to pay for tickets since the proposed bill out of African Origin could not materialize.

This fall out has been attributed to communication breakdown between the Sports Ministry and the Travel and tour agency.