Minister of Youth and Sports Nii Lante Vanderpuye has re emphasized his desire to scrap the bonus structure that pays the various national soccer teams bonuses at the various qualifying stages ahead of major tournaments.
He made the pronouncement when he hosted the Ghana Weightlifting Federation,stating that the practice which has become a permanent feature of the Black Stars is unfair to athletes of other sporting disciplines.
“I know some of you are having lingering thoughts as to what compensation you will receive for qualifying for the Olympics,” the Minister told the weightlifters who sealed qualification to the Rio Olympics last week.
“I just want to place it on record that the principle is, we don’t pay bonuses for qualification. It is when you have qualified for the competition that we take care of it.
“The truth of the matter is that a bad precedent has been set in the past with football and that we hope to change and we shall change it.
“Because if footballers play qualification for AFCON and are paid bonuses then athletes and weightlifters who qualify for the Olympics are also due bonuses and it should be the same for everybody.”
The Black Stars are set to begin their qualifiers for the 2018 World Cup in Russia in the coming months while the Black Satellites and the Starlets are all preparing for various qualifying campaigns.
By:Benjamin Nketsia/citifmonline.com/Ghana