The Confederation of African Football (CAF) has given the Ghana Football Association US$ 260,000 to prepare for the 2019 African Cup of Nation scheduled to begin in June 2018.

The money forms part of CAF’s responsibility to ensure that participating teams at the Nations Cup gets the needed funds to partake in the competition.

Therefore, the 24 teams qualified teams have received US$ 260,000 each from the governing body.

The money is an advance payment from the premium that each country will receive for participating in the tournament. The payment was given to help federations or associations with smaller budgets meet the expenses of their preliminary preparations.

According to Collins Okinyo, a CAF media officer and CAF media expert, the amounts will be deducted from the premiums to be received by each country at the end of the tournament. The premium to be paid to countries is between US$ 4.5 million for the AFCON champion and US$ 475,000 for the teams eliminated at the group stages.

The payment was approved by the CAF Executive Council before the draw for the 2019 AFCON in Cairo, Egypt about a fortnight ago.

The tournament hosted by Egypt features an expanded format from 16 teams to 32 teams.

It is also the first time that AFCON will be played in June/July rather than the former January/February calendar schedule.

Ghana have been pooled in Group F along with defending champions Cameroon and West African rivals Benin and Guinea Bissau.