2023 AFCON: Give Black Stars players $3000 as winning bonus - Kankam Boadu to govt

Ghanaian broadcaster, Bright Kankam Boadu, has entreated the government to budget $3,000 as winning bonus per game for the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations.

He argued that spending big just enriches the players while the government fails to meet its goals.

To corroborate his argument, he cited Nigeria as an example, stating that the Super Eagles won the AFCON in 2013 with the lowest budget.

"In this cup of nations, there will be a budget and of course, they should be...Nigeria used to pay $15,000 and they reduced it to $10,000. When Buhari assumed power he told them, the county could not afford it...He told them to issue a comminque that the winning bonus as been slashed from $10,000 to $5,000. It was an AFCON year...That was when Odemwinque turned down the call-up," he said on Pure FM.

"Ahmed Musah and the rest went and won the AFCON. The year they reduced their bonus, they won the AFCON. So what should it tell you? It's not about the bonus. But for us, we have made it seem to the players like it's about the money then they become business people. Because if you it's $10,000 per game, if you qualify from the group it's $30,000...So even if we lose(the next round) we are $30,000 rich."

He pleaded with the government to inform the players about the country's economic hardship and hand them a 'take it or leave it' $3,000 offer as a winning bonus for the AFCON.

"Now they've started 'Ghana can win the AFCON' and the Sports Minister will buy into it. If you don't know and you give them the money, you will come and meet us in Kumasi. Because a country that thinks will understand that NABCO workers haven't been paid, that country will understand that we are not getting money for National Service personnel, so you should look into the face of the players and tell them that 'Listen, we've told everybody to tighten their belt because we are in crisis...we can't afford the money you are asking. If you play for Ghana we will give you $3,000 dollars.' There is no Ghanaian that gets that money after 90 minutes of work. After that you tell them that we want you all to play but if you think you can't play then so be it."

He further suggested that because the AFCON is being hosted in by neighbouring country, the government should prevent the team from camping in Dubai.

"I'm appealing to the government, if they truly love the country as we believe tell the players that the country will set the lowest budget for the upcoming AFCON. It will be hosted in the Ivory Coast, and won't camp in Dubai. The team should camp in Sampa or Elibo. If they can't they can camp in Ivory Coast, even the FA officials and the ministry can visit them every day."

The Pure FM sports show host threatened that if the players decide to be fixated on money, the fans would also charge them money before visiting the stadium in their World Cup qualifying matches.

"If they want it to look like they need money before they will play, we will also demand money before we go to the stadium to watch them.

Ghana reportedly spent $2.5 million during the last edition of the tournament, which they exited the group stage.

The Sports Ministry budgeted $2.9 million and thus returned $400,000 as a balance.

The report indicated that part of the money was reportedly spent on Ghana’s camping in Doha, Qatar before the start of the AFCON 2021.

Also, a chunk of the money also went into the payment of player allowances, preparation for games at the tournament, and other amenities which included flight and other stuff.

Watch Bright Kankam Boadu's assertion below



EE/EK