The Ministry of Sports and Recreation has expressed shock over the news of Spintex Knights being stranded in Libya over an estimated $33,000 in outstanding flight costs. The Ghanaian basketball champions travelled to Libya for the first phase of the Basketball Africa League qualifiers, where they advanced into the Elite 16 stage. However, the co-founder of Spintex Knights, Dr Eric Opoku-Antwi, said the club is awaiting a response from the Ministry of Sports and Recreation on their commitment to provide support for their qualifiers’ campaign.However, the personal assistant to the Sports Minister, Wonder Mandel, says the institution is ‘surprised’ by the claims of the basketball club, as they were expected to cover their costs following a short notice to the ministry. “I was actually surprised and shocked when I started seeing these news items from yesterday morning that they were stranded at the airport,” he told CitiSports. “The CEO of Spintex Knights made the indication that they have the Libya competition covered…and they will need our help going into the Elite 16 and the bout itself next year, which the minister actually requested that they should always make sure they submit their request on time.”Spintex Knights won all three of their Group B games in the Division West preliminary to seal qualification for the Elite 16.