Black Stars players had $100,000 in bags – Oti Adjei on 2014 World Cup fiasco

Sports journalist Michael Oti Adjei has revealed that covering the 2014 FIFA World Cup was one of the most difficult experiences of his career due to the tension that surrounded the Black Stars team.

According to him, he witnessed firsthand the controversies in the team camp regarding the payment of appearance fees, which disrupted the squad.

He noted that he stayed close to the Black Stars’ hotel at the time and was privy to the tension that built up daily, along with the internal wrangling it generated.

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“It was not difficult in terms of getting stories, because I booked a hotel behind the Black Stars’ hotel, about a five-minute walk. Every day I set up there, and I could tell the tension building up around the money issues. Yes, today there’s a meeting, tomorrow there’s another meeting. But a lot of that tension started when the team was leaving Miami. They delayed, argued over the hotel, and the players didn’t like it,” he told Kafui Dey during an interview.

The Media General journalist indicated that he followed the team on the plane after the Portugal game, where players were openly holding their money in pouches.

Oti Adjei described the moment as surreal, noting that players carried backpacks filled with cash and flaunted them publicly.

“The hotel was a typical Brazilian building with many floors and large balconies. The global media team could see when players came in, collected their money and went inside. The closest I came to the money was being on the plane with the players after the Portugal game. One player told me that even on the bench and in the dressing room, everyone was holding their money properly, $100,000 per person in appearance fees. They had been paid in cash in Brasília the night before the game. So literally, everybody went to the stadium carrying pouches with $100,000 in them,” he recounted.

He further added: “Those who had their money, it was surreal, man. On the plane, there are unwritten codes when you’re on team transportation: see no evil, hear no evil. You’re sitting there watching how everybody had their backpack, and you could tell from the way they protected it that it was strange. From a journalism perspective, it was nice scene.”

Watch the video below:

@kafuidey7 The Black Stars players went to the stadium with $100,000 in bags and pouches. Covering the Brazil 2014 World Cup was really difficult - @Michael Oti Adjei Check my YOUTUBE channel (@kafuideymc) for full interview #KafuiDeyInterviews #foryoupage #viralvideo #Sports #Worldcup ♬ original sound - Kafui Dey

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