B| It Is A Mess – Kweku Baako B| The Editor-In-Chief of the - TopicsExpress



          

B| It Is A Mess – Kweku Baako B| The Editor-In-Chief of the New Crusading Guide newspaper was commenting current happenings within the camp of the Senior National Team, the Black Stars, at the on-going 2014 World Cup in Brazil. On Monday, news went viral of a match-fixing scandal involving the Head of the Ghana Football Association, Kwesi Nyantakyi and a couple of others, which is feared could have a negative effect on the players. Later on that day, it emerged that quite a good number of supporters got stranded at the airport and spent nearly 12 hours due to flight complications, other football fans even failed to get access to the Stadium and had to content themselves with watching the matches on Television in Brazil. Then on Tuesday, there were reports that the atmosphere in the Stars camp was very moody. The players agitated over unpaid allowances on Tuesday which caused a three-hour delay of a bus waiting to convey them (players) to the airport on their way to Brasilia. They threatened to boycott a trip to Brasilia as they protested the non-payment of appearance fees ahead of the crucial make or break match against Portugal in the ongoing FIFA World Cup on Thursday. The situation was so volatile earlier in the day prompting President John Mahama to intervene. The President is said to have promised that the amount would be paid by close of day, Tuesday. Succumbing to pressures from the senior national team to pay them their allowance and appearance fees in cash, government chartered a flight from Kotoka International Airport to Brazil to carry the huge sum of money (over $3m) to the players. Contributing to a panel discussion on ‘Kokrokoo’, described as Ghana’s preparation for the World Cup as shambolic and “poorly” done saying “somebody has to pay for it”. “It is a mess…collectively, this is a mess. The leaders especially the executives should take responsibility and resign or the president should relieve them of their duties. It is a shame,” snapped Abdul Malik Kweku Baako Jnr. “even organising the people in terms of supporters was problematic. It is so messy… after 57 years of independence and an experience in football as far as the World Cup is concerned? I will be shocked if they (executives) will come home without bowing their heads in shame” Kweku Baako is of the view that those responsible for the ‘mess’; whether from the Ghana Football Association (GFA) or the Ministry of Sports must be held responsible. He added that the behaviour of the players and the executives in Brazil have made him lose interest in their upcoming encounter with Portugal. He was of the view that both players and executives in Brazil should have waited till after the tournament to bring such issues up so that they will be properly addressed. “I am even demoralised to watch the match between the Black Stars and Portugal because of the issues that are coming up in their camp. In the course of a tournament when the chips are down, you make sure that issues that come up don’t embarrass your country…then afterwards they will be solved. But the greater portion of the blame is to those in charge (the leaders or executives),” he stated. Read Article Comment: Appearance Money Author: Kojo Date: 2014-06-26 05:49:50 Comment to: It is a mess - Kweku Baako Appearance money is from FIFA to players of each participating nation. These funds are supposed to be paid to national associations (in Ghana the GFA), and then paid out to the players. The players should have been paid in Ghana before flying out to Brazil. So first, why were the players not paid in Ghana? Second, why did the money get to the government of Ghana through the Ministry of Sports when in fact it should have gone to the GFA in the first place. Somebody somehow attempted to jettison the funds and the players possibly knew about it. They know that if they dont demand payment in Brazil, it will be difficult for them to get it in Ghana especially if they dont make it to the next stage. This is not about nationalism. The players from all nations in the competition who make several millions more than most of our players received their appearance monies long before they landed in Brazil. The government of Ghana has no business in keeping the funds until now. We now see the folly in chattering a whole private plane to send $3 million to players in far away Brazil. The government of Ghana is lucky that the Brazilian government will even permit them to bring in physical cash of $3 million into their country. Some other developed nations would have ceased the funds at the point of entry because the funds didnt go through proper channels. This cries foul and should be thoroughly investigated by FIFA. ghanaweb/GhanaHomePage/NewsArchive/artikel.php?ID=314324&comment=10588870#com
Posted on: Thu, 26 Jun 2014 07:04:23 +0000

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