Since the Commission started its sitting, the Ministries of Foreign Affairs, Finance, Youth and Sports, and the Bank of Ghana have all made appearances. Consequently, Ghana knows by now that the Bank of Ghana transferred US$4,000,000 - note, not the often quoted US$3,000,000 - to the team in Brazil when, ahead of Ghanas final group game, the players threatened a revolt over unpaid appearance fees. It has been revealed that the Bank of Ghana initially released US$3,300,000, and - later that same day -followed it up with an extra US$700,000, totaling the US$4,000,000 mentioned above. The breakdown of that overall figure includes the fact that, collectively, the 23 players received US$2,300,000, with 10 Technical team members taking US$100,000 each. Even though Mr. Kwesi Nyantakyi, at the GFA-organized post-Brazil 2014 press conference, had denied that the Management Committee members received any appearance fees, Mr.Abdulai Yakubu, Chief Director at the Ministry of Youth and Sports - in a document presented at the Commission on Day Four of its sitting -indicated that appearance fees were paid, not just to the players, but to officials as well. Mr.Yakubu further informed the Commission that US$82,500 was paid to each of the seven Management Committee members, adding that a bulk sum of US$577,500 was received on behalf of the Committee members. Why, then, did the Ministry sign for US$700,000, when only US$577,000 was required? Who signed for that much, and where did the balance of US$122,500 go? Did anyone at the Ministry of Youth and Sports receive appearance fees? Surely, the questions remain pregnant, the answers lacking.
Posted on: Sat, 23 Aug 2014 07:21:56 +0000