Sports Ministry to pay $2,500 winning bonus to Black Stars

Ghana’s Sports Ministry is ready to pay US$2,500 as winning bonus to the Black Stars for the 2017 Africa Cup of Nations qualifier against Rwanda on Saturday in Accra.

The amount is the lowest to be paid by the state to the senior national team in two decades.

The Ministry has adopted this approach because Black Stars coach and the Ghana FA rejected its proposal to call up home-based players for the qualifier.

Invited foreign-based players had to pay from their own pockets to buy air tickets with deputy captain Andre Ayew buying tickets for seven others after government said he could not finance their fares.

"Since they’ve decided out of their own volition to sacrifice for the nation by paying for their tickets, then they should be ready to take what we have for them as well,” Minister Nii Lante Vanderpuye told the Graphic Sports.

"I also hope the players would not use it as an excuse to boycott any future match and hold the nation to ransom like it happened in Brazil."

It would be recalled that Vanderpuye negotiated with the players and reduced the winning bonus per match from US$ 10,000 to US$ 8,000.