Black Stars players received 'appearance fee' before AFCON - Dr Kofi Amoah

The president of the Normalisation Committee of the Ghana Football Association Dr Kofi Amoah has confirmed Black Stars players received their heft "appearance and motivation fee" before the team's departure for a camping base in Dubai.

The revelation by the president of the interim body, confirms GHANAsoccernet.com's publication about the latest move.

The country's leading football website, GHANAsoccernet.com reported that players pocked an initial $23,000 as part-payment for their appearance fee before the team left for the gulf.

The players receive their share of the booty at the Tang Palace Hotel in Accra after their farewell meeting with Ghanaian leader Nana Akufo Addo.

But as expected, officials have denied strenuously, claiming the reports are wide off the mark.

But Normalisation Committee boss Dr Kofi Amoah has silenced the doubting thomases after confirming players received their "appearance and motivation fee" in the Ghanaian capital, Accra.

"When the president of Ghana, Nana Akufo Addo decided that he was tired of the elusiveness of the Africa Cup of Nations crown," he told Kumasi-based Oyerepa FM

"He said how come we haven't won the title in the last 37 years. He called a meeting at the Jubilee House.

"All the little little things, the little nuisances that crops up and make us to lose focus and all of that.

"The appearance fee and the motivation money and the all of that were paid before they even left Ghana for the camp.

"We are focused to move away from all the small, small petty,petty things that can disturb the focus and inspiration of the players.

"So now the focus on the technical abilities and physical endurance."

A further $2.5m has been budgeted for 55 media personnel who have been sponsored to the tournament - a concept craftily designed to buy their silence to mask the plundering of meagre state resources to fund the campaign that can only generate the country $4.5 million if the Black Stars win the trophy. This means a debt of $10 million will be wracked even if Ghana wins the title.

The winner of the AFCON trophy will take home $4.5 million as prize money.

Runners-up will pocket $2.5 million, semifinalists, $2 million and $800,000 for the quarter-finalists.

$475,000 will be for each team that will be eliminated at the group stage, meaning that all the countries competing at the tournament will receive at least $735,000 each from prep money and group stage earnings.

Last edition’s winner and defending champions, Cameroon, got $4 million for winning in 2017.

Runners up, Egypt received $2 million, while Burkina Faso and Ghana, the two semifinalists, went home with $1.5 million each.

THE PREVIOUS FIGURES

Ghana’s estimated budgets for three of the last four have been as follows:

2012 - $5.5m

2015 - $5.8m

2017 - $3.4m

2019 - $15m