Appiah makes case for league stars

Former Ghana captain, Stephen Appiah has called for better treatment of players in order to improve the local game.

The ex-Juventus star has bemoaned how local footballers are unpaid for months even though they earn meagre paychecks.

"We have to be honest, some of the local players are suffering," Appiah said.

"They are not paid on time and it is not like they are on a $10 000 monthly salary where you can say by local standards it could last them for quite a while in case payments are delayed.

"But here is a player who takes home as little as GHS200 ($58) and GHS300 ($87) at the end of the month and yet goes unpaid for close to four months. He has a family and himself to cater for. Where will the motivation come from?

"I'm a strong advocate of passion for the game before money. To me, it is not all about the money but you don't promote the game this way. This is why a player will happily jump for a $300 monthly offer in Thailand."

Generally, salary levels in the Ghanaian local football front is unsatisfactory and has been touted as one major cause for the downward spiral in quality and attractiveness of the Ghana league.

But in recent months, there have been reports of clubs owing players four months' worth of salaries with the bigger traditional clubs, who supposedly have the clout to pay even better, being caught in the web.