Afriyie Ankrah stands by decision to fly cash to Black Stars in Brazil

Former Minister of Youth and Sports Elvis Afriyie Ankrah has stood by the decision to airlift the $3 million to the Black Stars during the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil.

During the 2014 World Cup, the government sent the $3 milliom cash through a chartered flight to the Stars in Brazil, after the players had threatened to boycott their remaining group matches over the delay in payment of their appearance bonuses.

The Black Stars had refused to fly out from their team camp base in Maceio to Brasilia for their then must-win clash against Portugal.

According to Mr. Ankrah, the level of trust between the Stars and the managers had dropped so low that the players were not ready to have any compromise aside receiving their bonuses in cash.

Speaking on Point Blank on Citi FM's Eyewitness News, Mr Afriyie Ankrah, who was the Minister then, said: "I still believe it was the best decision because the players would have it no other way, so the action was taken to avert a worse scenario.

"The players insisted on receiving their agreed appearance bonus of $100,000 each even before the tournament started and they had threatened to boycott the very first game if they were not paid the money in cash," Mr. Ankrah told Citi FM.

"Under the circumstance, the then Vice President, Paa Kwesi Amissah Arthur, who was with the team, intervened and that is how the arrangement was made to send the money directly," the former Minister explained.