Payment of bonuses to FA officials; Palmer backs Minister’s freeze
The vice chairman of the Black Stars Management Committee, Wilfred Kweku Osei (Palmer), has justified the suspension by the Minister of Youth and Sports of bonuses and honorarium by FA officials, insisting that Minister Nii Lante Vanderpuye’s position on the matter is not out of place.
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According to Parma, who led the Black Stars contingent to Mozambique for the AFCON 2017 return leg in Maputo last Sunday, he sees nothing wrong with the minister’s decision to ask the FA to justify the rationale behind the payment of honorarium and other forms of bonuses to management members and other non-technical staff as the practice had existed since 2006.
“For the minister to ask the FA to explain the rationale behind the honorarium, I don’t think it’s out of place,” the outspoken FA Executive Committee member said in an interview with Accra-based radio station, Happy FM, yesterday.
“Yesterday (Sunday) I had a very lengthy chat with the minister and his explanation for suspending the honorarium made sense to me.
“What I gathered from the minister’s was that he had Cabinet and the Ministry of Finance to deal with when it comes to the release of funds for the Black Stars, so if there is any item on the budget the FA had to arm him with the requisite explanation to defend it,” he added.
He said based on that argument, what the Ghana Football Association (GFA) had to do in the circumstance was to engage the minister in an open discussion to thrash out the issues.
“So we (GFA) would have to engage the Minister in a frank and open discussion and out of that we will all appreciate and understand ourselves.”
The bankroller of Tema Youth pointed out also the need for the FA and the Ministry to find a common ground on the issue of complimentary tickets for FA officials and other operatives to watch Black Stars matches.
“The FA is the organiser of Black Stars matches, but we’re also mindful of the fact that a chunk of our support comes from the government which also gets a chunk of the returns from the gates.
“At least the FA should be given the opportunity to control, at least, 10 per cent of the total seating capacity of the Accra Stadium because we have sponsors we have to show total commitment to, and other people who serve on the various FA committees, as well as others who run errands for the FA,” he explained.
Meanwhile, players of the Stars agreed to a 20 per cent slash in their winning bonus to $8,000 after a lengthy negotiation with the sports minister. However, the players were $10,000 richer after the Sports Ministry settled an outstanding bonus in respect of their 2-1 win over Comoros in a World Cup qualifier in Kumasi last November, but were yet to receive payment for last Wednesday’s 3-1 win over the Mozambicans in Accra.
In a departure from the past, the bonus was paid into their accounts in cedis in line with a directive by the minister, an FA source confirmed to the Graphic Sports.