“Most of the players had their $100,000 in their backpacks. Psychologically, that hurt the team,” he said. Appiah went on to claim that the Ghanaian players would have had higher morale if they had received their monies earlier.
Former Ghana coach, Kwesi Appiah, has given evidence to a presidential inquiry declaring that Ghanaian players at the Brazil World Cup left bonuses of $100,000 each in their locker room during their group meeting against Portugal.
The Guardian reports that the presidential inquiry was established to look into the reasons why the Ghanaian squad performed abysmally in the early stage of the tournament leading to their elimination from the group stage.
Ghana’s squad was a favorite to progress out of the group stage, a feat they had achieved in the last two world cups.
Kwesi Appiah explained to the inquiry’s panel that up to $3million in players’ bonuses, which was flown by a private plane to prevent players from boycotting their remaining matches, were stored away in backpacks in the locker room during their match against Portugal.
“Most of the players had their $100,000 in their backpacks. Psychologically, that hurt the team,” he said. Appiah went on to claim that the Ghanaian players would have had higher morale if they had received their monies earlier.
Instances of player misconduct also hurt Ghana’s World Cup efforts including a much-publicized verbal assault at a training session involving Appiah and player, Kevin-Prince Boateng, leading to the player’s ejection from the Brazil tournament. Ghana's Sulley Muntari was also flown out of Brazil during the tournament due to insubordination issues with Appiah.
The presidential inquiry, which is deemed illegal intervention by football’s governing authority, Fifa, is also tasked with investigating why the government was overcharged by $90,000 to pay for meals for 600 official supporters who were sent to cheer the Ghanaian players at the tournament. The Ghanaian government was charged 35 dollar head per meal instead of the previously agreed 34 cedis per head per meal.