‘FA officials cash in on players’

Germany-based Kevin-Prince Boateng has lifted the lid on what he says culminated in a player revolt at the Black Stars camp in Brazil, accusing the accompanying officials of the FA of feeding fat on the players’ sweat and also breaking promises made to them.

The Schalke midfielder and Sulley Muntari were expelled from the Stars camp and handed an indefinite suspension by the Ghana FA, hours to the team’s final group game against Portugal in Brasilia for alleged acts of indiscipline.  The FA accused Boateng of making “vulgar verbal insults” towards coach Kwasi Appiah, while Muntari was charged with “unprovoked physical attack” on Moses Armah, a Black Stars management committee member. 

Boateng, in particular, had previously received the flak for perceived lack of patriotism, after turning his back on the national team only to gratecrash the World Cup party in Brazil. But in a no-holds-barred interview after being kicked out of the camp, the player accused the GFA of failing to live up to promises it made to him before the tournament. He also took a swipe at the FA for poor conditions in camp and suggested that he was only victimised for daring to speak his mind and challenge the status quo.

“Everything – the hotels, the flights – everything was amateurish,” he told German newspaper Bild.

“The GFA president visited me in Milan begging me to play for Ghana again. He gave me his word that we would have better travel, better organisation and preparation. He has not kept his word. In the end I was just still dissatisfied.”

Boateng, who denied vebally abusing coach Appiah, made a litany of allegations which pointed to poor preparation by the FA for the World Cup, and a lack of appreciation of the player’s welfare which led to low morale in camp and a breakdown of team unity.

“It was a nightmare from the first day of the preparation to the end,” Boateng added. “We flew to the first training camp from Amsterdam to Miami. However, we travelled in two groups, since there was no space. One group flew through Atlanta, the other New York. We sat for around nine hours at the airport — a total of 19 hours on the road.

“The flight from Miami to Brazil a week later took 12 hours and we sat and concentrated in economy class. The legs ached. It sounds strange for an average citizen, but for a competitive athlete that is a disgrace. The Ghana FA president sat in business class with his wife and two children. And then in Brazil, we finally had a charter flight but my luggage was lost. Two days without football boots – it was a disaster.”

While the team’s early exit had been partly blamed on player agitation over delayed payment of appearance fees, which compelled President John Mahama to order $3m to be dispatched to the team, the midfielder said the money issue was just a tip of the iceberg in respect of issues that dogged the squad.

That was the smallest problem. Everything had accumulated over a month. It was pure disaster. Poor training conditions and sleep options, I just wonder where all the money was flowing too.

“The association gets so much money from sponsors and FIFA — it was certainly not used for hotels, flights, the team and the preparation.”

“We were not a real team. Everyone was busy with themselves,” he added.

“There were two or three players who were just glad Sulley Muntari and I were suspended. They said it to my face. We all know that I have never insulted the coach. Nevertheless, they have turned the manager against Sulley and me.”