‘Review Stars bonuses’

A veteran football administrator, Jonathan Abbey Pobee, has added his voice to the debate on the government’s White Paper on the report of the Presidential Commission of Inquiry on Ghana’s World Cup campaign calling for a review of the winning bonuses of the Black Stars.

He is concerned about the fact that even countries whose economies are far stronger than Ghana’s pay much less as winning bonuses whereas Ghanaian players are paid huge bonuses in the face of the country’s economic difficulties.

“The last time I checked, Egypt paid $3,500; England $6,800; Spain $6,000, while Nigeria and USA paid $5,000 and $7,000 respectively as winning bonuses,” Mr Pobee yesterday told the Graphic Sports in an interview, and wondered why Ghana would go ahead and pay huge winning bonuses ranging from $7, 000 to $10,000 to the Stars.

The chairman of Neoplan Stars FC lauded, government for accepting to make the payment of winning bonuses to the national teams flexible.

In its White Paper on the Justice Senyo Dzamefe-led commission report, the government rejected a recommendation that the amount to be paid for winning bonuses for the Black Stars should be fixed at $5,000.

 The White Paper said “it is inconsistent for the commission to title the recommendations as “Negotiation for the amount” and yet fix it rigidly at $5,000”.

It said the position of the commission could end up freezing the winning bonus at $5,000 in perpetuity, adding that it should be possible to introduce an element of flexibility into the fixing of the winning bonuses, including the possibility of negotiating on a “per match” basis.

The government further explained that “it should be possible, for example, for a winning bonus for a win against Brazil to be higher than a win against a weaker football nation”.

With respect to bonuses paid for friendly matches, Mr Pobee was of the view that the players be paid with monies accruing from such matches, rather than pay them with special bonuses as was the case in competitive matches.

He agreed strongly with the stance taken by government that the Public Interest Committee (PIC), as stipulated in the GFA Statutes, be operationalised with membership comprising three government appointees and two GFA representatives with a quorum of three for meetings.