Ahead of their crucial match against Portugal tomorrow, Ghana's Black Stars have opted to take a rest day on Tuesday over an unresolved bonus dispute for their participation in this year's World Cup, Reuters said. The players chose to skip practice and that a series of meetings were conducted in order to resolve the money issues.
Ghana Football Association (GFA) and coach Kwesi Appiah said on Wednesday that the money dispute has been resolved with the intervention of Ghana President John Mahama. Although he declined to discuss how much money the players were demanding, it has been reported that a total of $3 million dollars in cash is on its way via plane to the Brasilia to calm the players.
"There are some issues concerning money and the management and the government of the country are trying to sort it out and hopefully everything will be sorted out in 2-3 hours' time," he told reporters.
Appiah added that the players demanded cash as some of them do not have bank accounts in Ghana.
The team, which includes Sulley Muntari of AC Milan and Kevin-Prince Boateng of FC Schalke, has played their two matches so far in the tournament that resulted to a 2-1 loss against the US and a 2-2 equalizer against Germany, Bloomberg said that the Ghanaians would need to secure a win against Portugal in order to advance in the knockout rounds.
Midfielder Christian Atsu rejected concerns that the players would boycott their upcoming game against Portugal should the money not arrive on time. He said, "This game is very important for our nation and we have to put everything behind us. It would be bad if we lost the game, people would think it because of the money. We have no option but to make our nation proud. We are in the biggest tournament in the world now, even if we don't get the money, we are in this tournament, the whole world is watching and tomorrow's game is very important."
Chief dealer Ion De Vleeschauwer at Bidvest Bank in Johannesburg said that although concerns about money laundering legislation in Brazil could not get the money to the players, he said that the Brazilian government might just overlook the potential violation as a one-time thing for the sake of FIFA. He added, "At the drop of a hat, to bring in $3 million in cash, it might get you into a spot of bother. I don't think the Brazilians will confiscate it but they just may not allow it to be released."
