A former Deputy Minister for Youth and Sports, Vincent Oppong Asamoah, has criticized the fundraising conversation started by President Akufo-Addo‘s for the Black Stars. According to him, the real problem of the team is the fact that the team is no more special and not money as the president may be thinking. The Member of Parliament for Dormaa West has backed his point with the fact that the Black Stars have always been pampered with money but have gone to tournaments and return with nothing. “The time the players are given money is when they disappoint us, especially when we promise them huge sums, they will spend our money and perform abysmally, ” he said in a radio interview. He said a call up to the senior national team should be a motivation for players but the team is no more special, hence, every ordinary player can be invited to play. ALSO READ: Black Stars tasked to win Afcon and reach World Cup semis by Prez. Akufo-Addo President Akufo-Addo appeals for $15m to support Black Stars “It is high time we got something else to motivate players than depending on money, you can even promise them $100 000 to win trophy and they will still fail,’’ he lamented. He has urged the government to find ways to invest in other sporting activities than concentrating only football. TAGSAkufo-Addoblack starsVincent Oppong Asamoah

Youth and Sports Minister, Mustapha Ussif, has said the $25 million the ministry is seeking from government and corporate bodies will be used to cater for all national teams.

On Monday, it emerged that the Black Stars will need a total of $25m for their 2022 World Cup qualifiers and the upcoming Africa Cup of Nations to be hosted in Cameroon next year.

This was after a breakfast meeting held with Chief Executive Officers from corporate Ghana at the Jubilee House.

The news got many Ghanaian football lovers angry which led many to criticize the decision of the government.

But, Hon. Ussif said the said amount will be used to cater for national team assignments for the next two years and not just the Black Stars.

“The budget we have is not only for the Black Stars; it is for all our national team activities from now till 2022,” the Member of Parliament for Kubori-Yagaba told Citi TV.

“We have 8 world cup qualifiers, the CHAN team will be playing qualifiers, the women’s team as well, and we have to participate at the AFCON, and if we qualify for the world cup, we will participate there as well,” he said.

“We have U-17, U-20, U-23 and the senior national teams and same for the women and all these teams have tournaments to play.

“We have done estimates for all our national teams and we think that we need about $25 million to cater for all their expenses.

Government has already committed $10 million of the amount and formed a four-member committee headed by the Sports Minister to solicit for the remaining $15 million.

The Black Stars have already qualified for the AFCON 2022 tournament and will begin the 2022 FIFA World Cup qualifiers in June this year.

 

 

 

Source: Adomonline

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