The Ghana Football Association President says Sports Minister, Nii Lante Vanderpuye is to blame for the lack of concrete decision on bonsuses for the Black Stars in the 2017 Africa Cup of Nations.
Kwasi Nyantakyi says management team has been denied involvement in bonus negotiations because of the Minister’s “Strange modern management style.”
At a media briefing in Accra Tuesday, Mr Nyantakyi said the Sports Minister has disregarded the caretakers of the Black Stars because of his belief that they are siphoning state funds.
“On the eve of the match with Uganda he had a meeting with players without management for well over three hours and at the end of the meeting the players did not have enough time to rest,” he said reprovingly.
Mr Vanderpuye has had issues with members of the Black Stars management team over suspicion that they are not acting in the interest of Ghana.
Relations between him and the FA President has been frosty since he was sworn-in as Minister by the outgoing President John Mahama.
In August, 2016 Mr Nyantakyi had accused the Minister of engaging the media more than he did with the Football Association.
“We do not have any problem with the Minister; he has chosen to engage us through the media [and] anytime we hear of any meeting between him and us, we hear it through the media,” he mockingly said.
Mr Vanderpuye was also to state during a media interview in August that he has nothing against the FA and its leadership.
He stated that “When the President swore me in as the Sports Minister, he told me to work to raise the image of football in Ghana high but people think I have problem with them.”
“I only want the right thing to be done,” he said.
But the FA says the Minister has refused to do the right thing since he was put in charge of the Youth and Sports Ministry.
Mr Nyantakyi said one of the FA conventions is that the management should be involved in decision making but the Minister’s style of leadership does not permit that.
“He [had met the Black Stars] twice without our involvement. The first one was in Alisa Hotel and the second one in Tamale when we went to play Uganda,” he said, adding the three hour meeting could be partially blamed for the team’s poor performance.
He, however, said a meeting has been scheduled between the team and the incoming government to finalise the arrangements regarding “financial issues and the bonus structure.”
Mr Nyantakyi argued this is important for the players to know what they stand to gain or lose in the Gabon competition.
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