Ghana has sent a plane carrying more
than $3 million in cash to Brazil to pay the World Cup
appearance fees owed to the national soccer team, known as the
Black Stars.
“The players insisted that they will want physical cash,”
Deputy Sports Minister Joseph Yammin said in comments broadcast
by Accra-based Citi FM. “Government had to mobilize the money
and a chartered flight to Brazil. The money is in excess of $3
million.”
Ghana’s President John Dramani Mahama contacted the team
and the arrangements for payment were made after, the Ghana
Football Association said in a statement on its website.
The
players will be paid today and government will be reimbursed by
money awarded to Ghana by FIFA, soccer’s governing body, the
association said.
The team, which includes Sulley Muntari of AC Milan and
Kevin-Prince Boateng of FC Schalke, has played two matches so
far in the tournament, losing 2-1 to the U.S. and drawing 2-2
with Germany. They play their final first round match against
Portugal tomorrow and need to win to have any chance of
progressing. The Black Stars were eliminated in the
quarterfinals by Uruguay in 2010’s tournament in South Africa.
“President Mahama waded into the matter after agitation
from the Black Stars players,” the association said.
“President Mahama personally spoke to the players to assure
them the money will be paid by Wednesday afternoon.”
Fixing Investigation
The Ghanaian team has been dealing with issues off the
field all week, as the football association asked police to
investigate claims reported by the London-based Daily Telegraph
that the association’s president had agreed to fix future
international exhibition matches. The GFA has denied the report
and says that the two men mentioned in the story never made
offers to bribe them or association President Kwesi Nyantakyi.
Back at home, Mahama has taken steps to ensure that the
broadcast of Black Stars games isn’t disrupted by regular
blackouts.
The government has asked its aluminum smelter to cut
power usage during the World Cup and will buy additional
electricity from neighbor Ivory Coast to ensure that Black Stars
games can be shown live.
Daily electricity blackouts, fuel shortages and a plunging
currency are slowing economic growth in West Africa’s second-largest economy, the International Monetary Fund said last
month. Ghana is struggling is struggling to boost revenue to
narrow its budget gap, which will probably exceed 10 percent of
gross domestic product for a third year, according to Moody’s
Investors Service and Fitch Ratings.
Moody’s and Fitch both have Ghana on negative credit watch,
meaning a cut in the rating is possible. Nigeria is the largest
economy in the region.
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