Minister of Youth and Sports Mahama Ayariga has dismissed rumours making rounds in the media that government funded the acquisition of Jeep Grand Cherokees as reward to the Black Stars players for winning silver at the just ended AFCON in Equatorial Guinea.
“Before the tournament there was a promise by Tanink Ghana Limited that if the players won the cup they will mobilize resources to get each player and not management members a Jeep.
This new revelation by the minister contradicts earlier reports that members of Black Stars backroom and some officials would also be beneficiaries of the brand new cars.
News broke earlier in the week that players of the Black Stars and members of the technical team would each receive a 2015 Jeep Grand Cherokee worth $76,000 from government for excelling in the tournament, a story which the Ghana Football Association initially denied.
The FA have since then changed their stance on the issue confirming that 30 models of the above mentioned car will be distributed to members of the playing body and not officials of the team as earlier opined.
According to Mahama Ayariga, Tanink Ghana Limited only required government to grant it tax exemptions.
According to Tanink they would only provide these vehicles for the players if government approved the tax exemptions for the 23 players.”They would take 50 percent of the cost of the vehicle and they would find individual sponsors to also take fifty percent so that the players would have the vehicles for free,” he told Citi Sports.He stated that Tanink Ghana Limited had made similar promises to the team in the run up to the Brazil 2014 World Cup.
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By: Benjamin Nketsia/citifmonline.com/Ghana