Former Black Stars coach, James Kwesi Appiah, has told the Justice Dzamefe Commission that government’s inconsistent promises to the players regarding the payment of the appearance fee is what led to the player agitations at the World Cup in Brazil.
He stated that the players, at a point, were willing to let go off their demands if the officials of the Ghana Football Association (GFA) and the Sports Minister were honest about timelines to pay them their money.
Coach Appiah said “there was one of the meetings when a player said that ‘why can’t you tell us that the money is not coming now…so that we all put our mind off it, but day in day out, every meeting, they say the money is coming.”
[contextly_sidebar id=”SnNHGIvo20Y0Rh24MHhEN5ChPdcKhLW0″]The former Ghana national team coach also blamed the agitations on the treatment meted out to the players by the FA and the Ministry.
“…these players are all grown up and they are very intelligent so once you deal with them and you treat them as kids, automatically, they will not take it kindly.”
There were reports from Brazil that the Black Stars were agitating over government’s delay in paying their appearance fees.
This led to a holding up of the senior national team’s departure for Brasilia where they were scheduled to play their final group match against Portugal on Thursday, June 26.
The agitations forced the government to airlift $3 million on a chartered flight to Brazil.
The then deputy Sports Minister, Joseph Yamin explained that the money delayed due to a disagreement over the mode of payment and securing landing right for the chartered plane carrying the money to the senior national team.
The airlifting of the money and the player agitations caught the attention of international media who chastised the government for making a reckless decision and the players of ditching their patriotism for material gain.
But the 54-year old was of the opinion that the players cannot be entirely blamed for their behaviour.
He indicated that the issue over the payment of the appearance fees began in March after the Black Stars played against Montenegro in a friendly.
According to Appiah, in previous World Cups, the players were paid before the tournament began which is why they expected a similar practice ahead of the recent World Cup.
He added that a series of meetings between the players, the Ministry and the FA were inconclusive and filled with promises of payments which were never honored.
Appiah said: “…so because it did not end there, the best thing was to finish the discussions before camping” in Brazil.
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By: Efua Idan Osam/citifmonline.com/Ghana
Follow @osamidan