Former Ghanaian international Karim Abdul Razak Tanko popularly known in local circles as the “golden boy” has suggested that African players now demand to know whether their bonuses would be paid before they turn out in games for their nations.
The issue of bonuses and remunerations has become a delicate issue in African football in recent times with players having been embroiled in disputes with team officials over bonus packages.
The Black Stars of Ghana have had their fair share of these problems and the issue has proven to be a difficult one to get rid of with the Stars going into the AFCON in Gabon without agreeing on the amounts players will receive by way of bonuses.
Speaking to Space FM in Sunyani, the golden boy has intimated that such tactic adopted by the players to bag their bonuses is an understandable one and people should not have any qualms with it.
He said “It is now a trend that has been installed by the players: either we are given what we are due or we will not play and it is not only in Ghana. There have been well documented cases as well in other nations on the continent where players boycott games because of such discord. You cannot put all of the blame at the doorsteps of the players. They have seen firsthand how past players were treated including myself. We were promised bonuses on numerous occasions for many games but such promises were never honored.”
“We played many games without any bonuses, sometimes throughout the entire season and when competitions started, we had to sacrifice and forfeit other commitments to represent the nation and such competitions took two to three months. And after the competitions, we came back home empty-handed with the bonuses we were promised unaccounted-for. So now the current crop of players have heard about the happenings during our time and they know that if they do not fight for what they believe is due of their commitment, they might end up just like some of us are now and that is the reason why all of these happenings occur.” the former Asante Kotoko player continued.
Ghana’s world cup campaign in 2014 was marred in ignominious and embarrassing circumstances when players threatened to boycott the tourney over such bonuses dispute and heading into the AFCON in Gabon, officials had not yet agreed on the packages by way of remunerations which will be handed to the players.
The Stars have already qualified into the quarterfinal stage of the competition even with a game to spare and meet Egypt on Wednesday.
The players had already claimed they were ready to accept whatever they would be offered with reports suggesting that a fee of $5,000 has been now agreed with the players as winning bonus.
