Black Stars 1982 AFCON squad
Former Black Stars goalkeeper, Joe Carr has revealed that the Black Stars turned down a $5000 bribe from Muammar Gadafi's Libya before the 1982 African Cup of Nations final because of late Ghana president, Jerry John Rawlings. According to Carr, prior to the final against Libya, who was the host nation, the sports minister of Libya promised the Black Stars players $5000 each to play a match of convenience. The former Asante Kotoko goalkeeper stated that the late president of Ghana, Jerry John Rawlings, who was then the head of state, had a tip-off and thus sent a warning to the players to either win the trophy or not return to Ghana. While talking about the government's failed promises to the Black Stars he said: "Nkrumah's promises weren't fulfilled same as Rawlings'. Rawlings' was the most painful one because, before the finals, Libya's sports minister came and promised us $5,000 each, if we let them win. They were hosting and Gaddafi(late Libyan president) wanted to win. It seems someone told Rawlings, so he wrote a long letter, and Akaporri, who was the leader of the delegation came and read it to us. We had already celebrated 6th March and the match was on 7th March. So he read it and all that the letter entailed was that he has heard about some money issues...if we don't win the cup, none of us should step foot in Ghana. " At that time, he had shot and killed Acheampong and the like, so for us, it would have been cheap for him. Acheampong, Akuffo, and Afrifa who were soldiers, he had killed them. So for us, he would've just blown us into thin air," he told Dan Kwaku Yeboah TV. Carr said they had a squad of 22 players and that only eight of them, including himself, were willing to accept the money. ""We were 22 players, and only 8 wanted to take the money so it was difficult." He further explained that he wanted to take the bribe because the 1978 AFCON winning squad, of which he was part did not get any reward from the government. "I was part of those who were ready to take the money because they didn't give us anything in 78, so I really wanted to take it." Ghana, eventually, won the tournament, beating the host nation 7-6 on penalties to win their fourth AFCON trophy and their last in over four decades.
Former Black Stars goalkeeper, Joe Carr has revealed that the Black Stars turned down a $5000 bribe from Muammar Gadafi's Libya before the 1982 African Cup of Nations final because of late Ghana president, Jerry John Rawlings. According to Carr, prior to the final against Libya, who was the host nation, the sports minister of Libya promised the Black Stars players $5000 each to play a match of convenience. The former Asante Kotoko goalkeeper stated that the late president of Ghana, Jerry John Rawlings, who was then the head of state, had a tip-off and thus sent a warning to the players to either win the trophy or not return to Ghana. While talking about the government's failed promises to the Black Stars he said: "Nkrumah's promises weren't fulfilled same as Rawlings'. Rawlings' was the most painful one because, before the finals, Libya's sports minister came and promised us $5,000 each, if we let them win. They were hosting and Gaddafi(late Libyan president) wanted to win. It seems someone told Rawlings, so he wrote a long letter, and Akaporri, who was the leader of the delegation came and read it to us. We had already celebrated 6th March and the match was on 7th March. So he read it and all that the letter entailed was that he has heard about some money issues...if we don't win the cup, none of us should step foot in Ghana. " At that time, he had shot and killed Acheampong and the like, so for us, it would have been cheap for him. Acheampong, Akuffo, and Afrifa who were soldiers, he had killed them. So for us, he would've just blown us into thin air," he told Dan Kwaku Yeboah TV. Carr said they had a squad of 22 players and that only eight of them, including himself, were willing to accept the money. ""We were 22 players, and only 8 wanted to take the money so it was difficult." He further explained that he wanted to take the bribe because the 1978 AFCON winning squad, of which he was part did not get any reward from the government. "I was part of those who were ready to take the money because they didn't give us anything in 78, so I really wanted to take it." Ghana, eventually, won the tournament, beating the host nation 7-6 on penalties to win their fourth AFCON trophy and their last in over four decades.
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