体坛英语新闻：Ghanaians protest against Canadian embassy over visa refusal

ACCRA, August 13 (Xinhua) -- Hundreds of Ghanaian football fans embarked on a demonstration in Accra on Wednesday to protest the Canadian High Commission's refusal to grant them visas to watch the on-going FIFA U20 World Cup matches.

Members of 30 supporter-union groups began the march at the Kwame Nkrumah Circle in the city center at 0900 GMT, although Ghana's representative at the competition, the Black Princesses, bowed out of the competition despite beating Finland 2-1 in the early hours of Wednesday.

The demonstrators, fully clad in red and black attire, marched through some principal streets of the city to drum home their disappointment over the Canadian High commission's denial of entry visas to thousands of supporters despite meeting all the requirements.

Some of them brandished placards some of which read "We need our money"; "FIFA help Ghanaians"; "Always respect all equally" ; and "We want our visa fees now", among other inscriptions.

The protesters finally submitted their petition to both the government, through the ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Canadian High Commission, demanding the refund of their visa fees and other particulars.

The High Commission's decision to reject all Ghanaian applications is believed to have been influenced by reports that more than 200 Ghanaian fans who traveled to Brazil for the 2014 World Cup had applied for political asylum under the false pretext of an ethnic war in Ghana.

Copies of the refusal letters cited travel history, length of proposed stay in Canada, purpose of visit, personal assets and financial status, and low financial standings as the reasons for the mass refusal even though some of the applicants were known government officials.

Two weeks ago, the Sports Minister, Mahama Ayariga, confirmed the High Commission suspected each of the applicants to be a potential asylum seeker, hence the refusal of the visas.

However, the minister promised that his outfit would collaborate with the Foreign Affairs Ministry to have the issue resolved. This however, did not materialize.

"If you agree to host a tournament, you must be prepared to give visas out; we met your requirements, so why are you refusing us visas?"asked Baba Yaro, one of the demonstrators.

"We want FIFA to know what is happening here; the asylum seekers are not part of Ghana supporters; those asylum seekers went there on their own; that is not a good excuse," said Abraham Nkansah, a popular Ghanaian football fan.

They called on the ministry of Foreign Affairs to intervene and ensure that the High Commission refunded their processing fees.