Queens grumble over unpaid bonuses

(From Veronica Commey, GNA Special Correspondent in Hanover, Germany.}

Hanover, Oct. 22, GNA - Players of Ghana's Black Queens are grumbling over unpaid bonuses and allowances of their last two games that qualified the team to the 7th African Women Championship (AWC} commencing in South Africa later this month.


The Queens won 4-0 over two legs in their last qualifier against Senegal in May and the players say it is unbelievable to have their bonuses outstanding after five months of their success. The Queens are entitled to a match bonus of 3,000 US Dollars, meaning the players are owed 6,000 dollars each as bonuses over the two legs.


The players told GNA Sports in Hanover in confidence that the team received only part of their allowances over the two legs, insisting very little have been said about when the rest of the allowances and their bonuses will be cleared by officialdom.


The players insist such delays and inconsistencies in payment kills the spirit of the team since in reality they think they must also enjoy the same benefits as the senior male team, the Black Stars noting that they are at par in terms of their ranks as senior teams.


They are quick to remind the GNA Sports that "after all, we played at the World Cup long before the Black Stars did and if we are at the same rank as a senior team, shouldn't we be given the same treatment?" They queried.

"Very often we are made to believe the Black Stars get so much because they have sponsors, that is understandable, but if what we deserve delay forever then we are tempted to think perhaps we don't deserve the same amount of attention and that is spirit killing," a player told GNA Sports.


The Queens are currently wrapping up their preparations in Germany where they beat BV Coppenburg, a Liga two side, 2-0 in their first test game on Thursday as the team seeks to put a final touch on preparation for the competition that the Ghanaians dream of winning for the first time.


Ghana's last test match will come against another Liga two side, FFC, Gutersloft on Tuesday, October 26.


Ghana are pitted in Group B alongside defending Champions, Equatorial Guinea, Algeria and Cameroon in the two-week biennial fiesta that qualifies the two finalist to the next FIFA World Cup billed for Germany in 2011.