Joseph Yamin, an ex-Deputy Sports Minister under the erstwhile John Mahama administration, believes the government did nothing wrong by airlifting $3million to be given to the Black Stars during the 2014 World Cup.
Ghana’s campaign in Brazil was blighted by issues of delayed bonuses, with players even threatening a boycott before the country’s final group game against Portugal.
This led to a decision by the National Democratic Congress (NDC) government to airlift $3million in cash to the South American country to be used to settle the bonuses.
The development exposed Ghana to international ridicule, with a commission of enquiry subsequently set up to look into what caused such a massive leadership failure.
Over seven years after the incident, Joseph Yamin believes the government’s hands were tied and were left with no other option than to airlift such a huge amount of money to Brazil.
“Flying the money to Brazil was the only means we could get money to the players, they were insisting they will not play if they don’t see the physical cash,” he said on Starr Chat.
“You have a day to do that, there is no bank transaction that could get them the money at that particular moment so the only means was to fly it. The point is that government did nothing wrong, let me set the records straight.”
Meanwhile, there was also an episode where midfielder Sulley Muntari clashed with a member of the FA following a fallout.
The former AC Milan and Portsmouth star reportedly exchanged blows with the said management member, later revealed to be the President of Medeama SC, Moses Armah Parker.
This led to the suspension of Muntari and teammate Kevin-Prince Boateng from the national team – a suspension both players continue to serve till date.
