National teams cry for bonuses

The thorny issue of winning bonus and qualification bonus dominated proceedings at the Justice Dzamefe Commission yesterday as the various national team chairmen pressed for the payment of outstanding bills accruing from their respective assignments.  

In response, the chairman of the commission, Justice Senyo Dzamefe, urged them to furnish the fact-finding body with details of their demands to be forwarded to the appropriate quarters for the necessary action.

Local Black Stars

The chairman of the Local Black Stars Management Committee, Frederick Reginald Kpakpo Pappoe, aka Papsay, told the commission that the team’s winning bonus for the semi-final victory over Nigeria at the African Nations Championship (CHAN) in South Africa last February totalling about $150,000 had still not been paid.

He also revealed that the salaries of local coaches who handle the national teams are in arrears for about nine months.

According to Mr Pappoe the situation is so bad that the FA sometimes intervene to bail them out but never receive a refund from the Ministry of Youth and Sports (MOYS).

He cited lack of readily available funds to executive programmes, lack of international friendly matches, lack of motivation and the exodus of players as the main challenges facing his team.

He admitted that there should be collaboration between the government and the Ghana Football Association (GFA) since the latter manages the national teams on behalf of the state which provides the funds.

When Moses Foh-Amoaning referred him to FIFA’s Standard Cooperation Agreement which, he said, was elaborate on regularised consultation between the two parties, he concurred but said he was not aware of that document.

Mr Pappoe agreed with the suggestion by Stephen Appiah that the local game should be developed at the grassroot level, while urging local coaches to take the lead and use part of their earnings to develop themselves.

He also agreed with a suggestion by Kofi Anokye Owusu Darko that it would be prudent for the GFA to involve the MOYS in the negotiation of local coaches’ salary instead of merely referring the figures to the Ministry for approval after concluding discussions with the coaches.

Black Satellites

In his evidence, the chairman of the Black Satellites, George Afriyie, also disclosed that the state owed the national U-20 team $4,000 each qualification bonus for the African Youth Championship qualifiers against Sierra Leone and Gabon.

He mentioned lack of training facilities, late release of camping allowances of between GHC20 and GHC30 a week, and non-availability of international friendlies as some of the problems facing the team.

He also noted that an unsuccessful U-17 campaign affects the Satellites since the Black Starlets usually form the nucleus of the U-20 side. 

To help solve the problem of international matches, Mr Foh-Amoaning stressed the need to revive the friendship games which used to exist between Ghana and other African countries, while Justice Dzamefe admonished the FA to seek sponsorship for all the national teams to help ease the burden on government.

Black Queens

Black Queens Management Committee chairman, Adam Munkaila, also made a passionate appeal to the nation to reconsider the winning bonus of female players due to their peculiar needs which require more logistics than their male counterparts.

He said by their nature women need different attention than men and, therefore, need better facilities and specially designed jerseys and other necessary kit to make them more comfortable on the field of play.

He made a particular reference to a recent situation where a player showed her the bruises on her thigh for which reason she could not play a crucial game due to the bad training pitch at the Ghanaman Soccer Centre of Excellence.

He also lamented on lack of sponsorship and lack of competition for the players as the other challenges confronting the Queens.

In response, Justice Dzamefe urged the GFA to impress upon the Black Stars kit sponsor, PUMA, to extend its package to the women and also approach some targeted companies to address the peculiar needs of the female players.

The Queens are due to leave for Namibia today for the African Women’s Championship (AWC) scheduled for October 11 to 25.

Black Princesses

The chairman of the Black Princesses, Osei Tutu Agyemang, pleaded with governement to consider a package for the team following their painful exit from this year’s FIFA U-20 Women World Cup with six points.

He recommended a longer residential camping of between three and four months for the team in future, while emphasising on the need to upgrade the Prampram pitch to save players from injuries. 

Black Maidens

Mr Augustine Asante, who chairs the Black Maidens Management Committee, told the commission that the team’s qualification bonus and honorarium for his committee members have been in arrears since their qualification to this year’s FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup.

That, he said, was in addition to various camping allowances and World Cup quarter-final bonus.

He also revealed that the $6,000 salary of the then assistant coach, Evans Augustine Adotey, had been outstanding since 2012.

Black Meteors

The last witness for the day, Mr Matthew Narh Stephen (M.N.S.) Doe, who head the Black Meteors, disclosed that his committee operates within a four-year interval and was, therefore, due to begin its assignment next March.

Witnesses for next sitting 

When sitting resumes on Monday, it will be the turn of Mr Fred Crentsil, who sought to travel abroad, to brief the commission on the operations of the national U-17 team, the Black Starlets.

Also appearing will be Litina Travels which also played a key role in Ghana’s World Cup campaign.

Investigations made by the Daily Graphic indicate that, the GFA president, Kwesi Nyantakyi, will finally appear before the commission on Tuesday after previous postponements.