The Three Amigos, Essien, Muntari & KPB Destroyed The Team -Part II

My article published on the sports section of Ghanaweb titled "The Three Amigos, Essien, Muntari & KPB Destroyed The Team" of Wednesday, 2 July 2014 received a torrent of insultive comments on my person because of the belief by commentators that I have switched camps and now support the GFA and the Ministry of Sports for what they did and that is far further from the truth. Maybe I should have stated my support for the Players clearly which I failed to do. As I wrote in the article, when the Muntari fracas with Mr Armah came out, I was one of the earliest people to comment on the article and even supported Muntari's action.

At a time when a lot of Ghanaians were calling the Players greedy, I was a lone wolf in the wilderness defending the Players right to what they were demanding because I have done a research and found out the Players appearance fees was mandated and paid by FIFA from $8 million to each of the 32 qualifying teams. How much to be paid though was to be decided by the country's FA. Some of the Players in the last eight teams remaining are going to receive as much as $250,000 each and even Cameroon Players that disgrace themselves in Brazil received $135,000 each so what is $100,000 to Blackstars?


I even wrote an article the same day the story came out which was published the next day titled "Blackstars Mess In Brazil, Blame The Government" on Friday, 27 June 2014. I have supported the players when others were condemning them so I have every right to criticize some of them when they behave badly with no apologies.


This is the problem we have in Ghana. As I said esrlier, I have written more than eight sports articles about four of them before Blackstars even went to camp and warned about the financial malfeasance going on by GFA and Sports Ministry. Some commentators told me to shut up and support the team and that every money being spent is worth it. Now we are coming to our senses and realizing that, what I warned Ghanaians about is what we are talking about now.


The real problem was created by the Sports Ministry. It should have stayed out of gfa affairs and allowed gfa to source its own funds since FIFA pays them enough to take care of their affairs but for the Ministry to perpetrate corruption on Ghanaians, it has to get involved. Why can't we as people prevent problems from happening and always allow problems to happen and then start pointing fingers? I do agree these people should resign but it is not also right to say they should not come and tell us what went on in Brazil. Some newspapers in Ghana today are reporting some of the things I wrote in this article. We need to know what went on so that we can start rebuilding the team not from two years ahead but right from today.The gfa officials, sports ministry and the Blackstars including the technical team are all to blame and we need to listen to both sides and address the problem.


Mr. Armah, Muntari's pugilistic opponent in the boxing match in Brazi came out and told his part of the story which tallies with what I wrote in my article and this is a quote from his statement;

"When it came to my turn to speak I urged the players to be patient while we all waited for the money in Brazil as promised by the President," he recalled.He said he had hardly finished speaking when Muntari rose up and shouted at him to keep quiet, to the surprise of everybody present.He then approached me and slapped me in the face. But because he is a player I hesitated to reply but he returned to give me another slap which infuriated me, and that compelled me to reply him with a heavy blow straight to his face," he added.But while thinking the fight was over, Muntari suddenly rushed into his room, wearing only his shorts and tried to attack him again but for the intervention of some national security officials present who whisked him to the porch while FA officials restrained the player in the room.


He further disclosed that following the incident Muntari's parents called him from Ghana to apologise for their son's behaviour. I was also told that Muntari's wife came looking for me to apologise on her husband's behalf when I left the hotel," he revealed.


Does it mean I support what Mr. Armah did? I wished Muntari has not gone to his Mr. Armah's room to continue the fight but he did.


People think the three Amigos have the right to bring their wives to camp with them because Kwesi Nyantakyi brought his family. Is it right for the three to have brought their wives to the team camp despite the fact that the whole team has decided against it? Don't bring your wives to camp does not mean you should not bring your family to Brazil which I believe all the teams players did. They brought their families to Brazil but not to the team hotels. They put their families in other hotels so that they could concentrate on the task ahead which is to play football. The three Amigos have every right to bring their wives and friends to Brazil but Ghanaian Taxpayers don't have to pay their hotel bills and other expenses.


About the three Amigos bringing their own Doctors to camp and their expenses forced on the GFA, some of you with emotional and mental baggage though I am stupid to speak against that. What about if the other twenty Players say they also want their own Doctors in camp and their bills paid by GFA? Do you know Asamoah Gyan, Dede Ayew, Jordan Ayew and two other Players I am informed were so upset about this preferential treatment to the three Amigos they confronted the GFA members about this? Do you people not want a team with unity? That was the beginning of the team indescipline in camp.Where do you stop? What about if all of the Players have said 'I have a unique hairstyle and only my Braber can do it so I want to bring my barber to camp and GFA should pay for their hotel rooms and other expenses? What about if each Player wanted to bring his own chef to camp and GFA has to pick up the tab?

The problem as I have realized from my time in this forum is that, we support blindly in our political, tribal and soccer matters. In a team sports where many individual beliefs have to be molded into one to achieve a purpose, if other members perceive some others are getting special treatments not available to all other members, that is a formula for disaster and that caused our downfall in Brazil.


Kwesi Nyantakyi flying business class with his wife and two children whilst putting the team in Coach in and of itself calls for him losing his job. These Players should at least fly business class. I live in a country where some of these "Ballers" fly their personal planes to games or at least first class with most teams owning their own planes configurated to accommodate Players comfortability, flying these player millionaires in coach is an insult. I bet these 47 GFA officials all flew business class.


Going forward,the GFA should be dissolved and new members selected. The Ministry of Sports should have limited access to GFA operations and selection of Blackstars Players should not only be based on skills only but the Players behavior. After Dede and Jordan Ayew were accepted back into the team, they have been model citizens and not a peep was heard about them in Brazil, I say Kudos to them and the gentleman of them all, Kwadwo Asamoah, I say continue to be the gentleman that you are. I respect you, KASA.


Justice Sarpong