‘Govt won’t pay Appiah compensation’

The Deupty Minister of Youth and Sports, Vincent Asamoah, says any compensation accruing to Kwasi Appiah following his dismissal as Black Stars coach will be borne soley by the Ghana Football Association (GFA) and not from government sources.

He said the GFA had been responsible for the coach’s salary through various sponsorship packages, and the burden of compensation would not revert to the ministry now that the coach had been sacked.

Fears had arisen over the chances of a huge severance package hanging on the neck of the ministry in the wake of the sudden dismissal of the former Stars coach, but Mr Asamoah said Coach Appiah would be entitled to just three months’ salary in lieu of the truncated contract.

He is also entitled to $120,000 in outstanding signing-on fees after the GFA handed the coach a two-year contract reportedly worth $36,500 a month ahead of Ghana’s World Cup campaign in Brazil where the Stars finished bottom of Group G with a single point. Nonetheless, the FA affirmed its faith in the coach despite the public outcry for his dismissal as measured by campaigns in the media.

But two matches into the qualifiers for the 2015 Nations Cup slated for Morocco, the GFA sacked the coach.

Answering questions during an interaction with the Upper West Regional Youth Parliament in Wa, the deputy minister said Coach Appiah was hired and paid by the GFA during his time with the Stars, and the compensation package could not be transferred now.

The Upper West Regional Youth Parliament had invited the Youth and Sports Minister to address members about programmes for the youth of Ghana in the wake of the apparent emphasis on sports, particularly football.

The deputy minister admitted that while Ghana’s participation at the Glasgow Commonwealth Games last month cost the country less than $500,000 for a contingent of almost 100 sports persons and officials, every one of Ghana’s 23 players at the FIFA World Cup received $100,000 each in appearance fees alone.

While admitting that there was tangible evidence of emphasis on sports at the expense of youth development, he said sports in itself was a major employment platform attracting a host of youth either directly or indirectly.