Chief of Staff, cabinet informed of stalemate with players on appearance fee – Ghana FA boss Nyantakyi

Published on: 01 October 2014
Chief of Staff, cabinet informed of stalemate with players on appearance fee – Ghana FA boss Nyantakyi
Kwesi Nayantakyi

By Kwame Boadu

Kwesi Nyantakyi, President of the Ghana Football Association has disclosed that the Chief of Staff and Cabinet were informed of the stalemate with the players over appearance fees before Cabinet took the decision to approve the proposed US$ 82,500.

Appearing at the Justice Dzamefe Commission investigating into matters relating to Ghana’s appearance at the World Cup, the GFA Boss indicated that the FA began negotiations with the players in earnest over the appearance fees.

He said that on 5th February, 2014, a proposal was sent to the players through its Captain, Asamoah Gyan, for their input. This proposal entailed a $82,500 appearance fee for the first three group games of the team.

He stated that days later, the players replied with a counter proposal of $100,000 for the first three games. He mentioned that that on March 4th, a meeting was held before the Montenegro match between the FA and the players and also two representatives of the Presidency, Hon. Adu Asare and Minister of State at the Presidency, Mustapha Ahmed.

He indicated that this meeting ended in a stalemate with the players insisting on their $100,000 while the FA and government representatives stood their grounds with their offer of $82,500. He said that after the team returned from Montenegro, the Chief of Staff was immediately briefed on the stalemate and the demands of the players.

He said again that on 13 March, 2014, a joint delegation of the Ministry of Youth and Sports and GFA appeared before Cabinet to explain and justify the proposed budget for the 2014 World Cup.

He said that at the Cabinet meeting, the proposal to pay $82,500 was subjected to rigorous scrutiny and Cabinet was informed that the players had demanded the $100,000 as appearance fees.

However he noted that Cabinet still went ahead to approve $82,500 with the explanation that Ghana could not afford the $100,000 the players were demanding.

“At the Cabinet we did not hide that fact of the players demand of $100,000 and cabinet said all we could afford was $82,500. So Cabinet knew that the players were demanding $100,000. There was little the GFA could do. We continued discussions with them hoping they would understand and accept the $82,500 but they didn’t.”

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