Oppong Asamoah lied over cause of Black Stars bonus delays

Ghana’s deputy minister for sports, Vincent Oppong Asamoah, has been exposed to have lied and deceived the public as his outfit has been shown to have been the cause of the Black Stars bonus delay which has rocked the government.

Mr Asamoah blamed the Ghana Football Association (GFA) on Monday for the delay in paying the Black Stars winning bonus after thrashing Mauritius 7-1 in their 2017 Africa Cup of Nations qualifier at the Accra Stadium last month which was played on 14 June.

The ministry had been under fire for the delays as it was the first time in over 15 years that bonuses for the national team delayed – a phenomenon which led to the chaos and disgrace at the 2014 World Cup in Brazil

But the deputy minister quickly deflected the attention by telling the media that the GFA submitted the budget only after the match and as a result the ministry could not process it on time to pay the players.

However documents available to Asempa FM on Monday night showed that the GFA submitted the budget to the minister on 6th May, 2015 which is one month and one week ahead of the game against Mauritius.

This clearly shows that the minister was bent on deceiving the public by shifting the blame to the GFA who have been made to shoulder government’s blunders when it comes to the national football teams in recent times.

In an interview with the Graphic Sports on the sidelines of the National Circuit Championship at the El-Wak Stadium last Saturday, Mr Asamoah said government could not be held responsible for the delay.

“The budget was brought to us after the match and thus couldn’t process it on time to pay the team.

“We did not meet the timeline because it had to go through the Chief of Staff at the Presidency before the Ministry of Finance could disburse the funds,” said the deputy minister.

When asked whether the delay could affect the team’s commitment in subsequent games in the qualifiers, Mr Asamoah noted that, he did not expect that from the team since he believed the players would put patriotism ahead of money.

He stressed on the need for the Black Stars to note that, their bonuses cannot always be paid immediately after a match if their budget haven’t been approved.

However, the public are unhappy over how the ministry has been dealing with the players of the national team with several failed promises which has led to protests by the players.

Despite the false promises players are blamed when they protest over their unpaid bonuses.

There has been an uneasy relationship between the sports ministry and the GFA in recent times which might be leading to tensions.