Apart from the 23 players of Ghana’s senior national football team who got $100,000 apiece as appearance fee for the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil, other non-playing officials, also pocketed their share of the same amount, apiece.
It emerged at Thursday’s hearing by the three-member Dzamefe Commission, which was set up by President John Mahama, to probe the West African country’s World Cup participation fiasco that the 23 players of the Black Stars squad, were supposed to have been paid $82,500 apiece as appearance fee.
However, the Chief Director at the Ministry of Youth and Sports, Alhaji Abdulai Yakubu and the Ministry’s Chief Accountant, Prosper Kpasu, revealed that the money was increased to $100,000 apiece following agitations from the players.
Abdulai Yakubu said: “When the government-approved budget was submitted to the Sports ministry, we had discussions with the Ghana Football Association and agreed that the appearance fee should be 82,500 dollars and that when they conveyed this agreement to the players, they rejected the amount and rather demanded an appearance fee of 100, 000 dollars. So in a letter dated 25th June 2014 and signed by GFA’s General Secretary, Emmanuel Gyimah, the GFA decided to top up the initial 82,500 dollars approved by government as the appearance fee with of 17,500 dollars from their coffers at the insistence of the Black Stars”.
Pressed further by Commission Chairman Justice Dzamefe about why non-players also took the same amount despite not clamouring for it as the players did, Yakubu said: “I can’t answer that question, my Lord”.
Yakubu also revealed that there were two budgets for the Black Stars’ participation in the Mundial: one from the government of Ghana and the other from the GFA and world football governing body FIFA.
He clarified to the Commission that the government’s budget was meant to pay the per diem of players, technical team and other officials, as well as take care of winning bonuses, imprest for staff contracted by Government and other miscellaneous items.
According to him, 40 people, made up of 23 players, 10 technical team members and seven GFA officials received the per diem.
