Minister of Youth and Sports, Honourable Mustapha Ussif says Ghana paid no winning bonuse because they agreed a on a qualification bonus before the World Cup.
The Black Stars of Ghana was sent packing from the group stage of the World Cup.
Ghana lost 3:2 to Portugal in their first game but came back stronger in their next fixture to beat South Korea by 3:2.
Ghana then succumbed to a 2:0 defeat to Uruguay in their final group game.
Before the mundial, the Ministry of Youth and Sports and the Ghana Football Association reportedly agreed with the players to pay qualification bonuses instead of the normal winning bonuses per game.
Hon. Mustapha Ussif have confirmed that Ghana paid no winning bonuses despite beating South Korea because of qualification bonuses agreement.
"Mr Speaker, the reason for the surplus of over $3m, after our exit at the group stage, is as a result of the Ministry’s prudent management of resources, as well as the Ministry’s decision to negotiate a qualification bonus to the next round, instead of paying winning bonus per match," he said at the Floor of Parliament.
“What this means is that inspite of the Black Stars defeating South Korea 3:2 in our second group match, we did not pay winning bonuses for that win. However, we would have paid a qualification bonus to the team had they been able to progress from the group to the next stage of the World Cup, regardless of the results of our group matches.
“Mr Speaker, this measure we have adopted is aimed at motivating the team to go all out and progress from one stage of competitions to the other, and also ensure prudent management of resources.
“Even though we would have been very happy for the Black Stars to progress for us to pay the qualification bonus, this measure has also saved the nation some money, which will go back to our continuous sports development,” he stated.
By: Abdul Razak Salim
