• Grusah – Defends the appearance fee for members of the Black Stars MC

 For weeks, the contentious issue of appearance fees for players of the Black Stars and the team’s Management Committee (MC) members, dominated discussions in the football space.

The issue became more pronounced when a mem­ber of the MC, Alhaji Karim Grusah, disclosed that each member of the team was giv­en $100,000, after Ghana’s campaign at the ill-fated 2022 FIFA World Cup tourna­ment in Qatar.

However, just as the conversation was gathering raving steam with – many trying to suggest a way out of the controversial issue, the unfortunate happened – the unfortunate incident of Christian Atsu Twasam being trapped in the Turkey earth­quake, was announced.

As scores were found alive, there was the wob­bling sense of feeling that the precociously talented former Black Stars player, would come well.

Sadly, 12 days after the horrendous earthquake on Monday, February 6, 2023 that later claimed more than 46,000 lives, the news that every Ghanaian dreaded, broke. Atsu was gone! He died in the rubble!

The nation was brought down on its knees. Tears flowed – almost uncontrol­lably. Ghanaians, Africans, and the teams Atsu played for, were devastated. Though somehow expected after nearly a fortnight, his death was still very grim to endure.

As the nation prepares to give Atsu a befitting funeral, it would still not be out of place to revisit this appear­ance fee brouhaha – which was resurrected after the Qatar World Cup – in a bid to bring it to a close.

The Stars crashed out in the opening round of the World Cup after finishing last in Group G, beating South Korea and losing to Portugal and Uruguay.

Having been flushed out in round one too during their last Mundial (Brazil 2014), the Qatar early slump may have come as huge disen­chantment to Ghanaians who had hoped for a much better performance.

Information that members of the MC of the Black Stars were given $100,000 ap­pearance fee, in spite of the team’s group ruinous exit, is not only insensitive but scandalous.

Owner of King Faisal Alha­ji Karim Grusah (member of the MC) – a beneficiary of the largesse, confirmed that he was paid that much for just traveling to Qatar with the Black Stars. And, he defend­ed it unashamedly.

“I want to ask if it’s a crime for us to take that ap­pearance fee of $100,000,” Alhaji Grusah said in an interview with Akoma FM.

“I risked my life to fly from Ghana to Qatar. When we were being attacked in Nigeria, where were those people who are now making noise about the money we took?”

He added: “It’s just some journalists who are only making noise about this, though I agree the money is huge, I think we deserved it.

“A lot could have hap­pened to us, we left our jobs to serve Ghana, if some of us were to stay back, we could have earned more than that from our various jobs, if it’s a crime, Ghanaians should come for their money. We took the money because we deserved it.”

Is that what the Dzamefe Commission recommended?

For all the club’s stag­gering expenditure, and the pains, toils and anguish of players on the field, winners of the Ghana Premier League (GPL), should be boasting of walking away with half a billion cedis – and not what they are being rewarded at the moment. This is what the members of the MC must be concerned about.

The league winners are expected to take home GHC250,000; runner-up pockets GHC 150,000 and the third-placed team rides away with GHC80,000. Though it is an improvement on what was previously being offered, the Ghana Football Association (GFA) can do more.

You do not give so much to an individual when there are lots of issues at home to be addressed.

Importantly, there should be a discussion on the fees that members of the Black Stars MC pocket at tourna­ments so as to bring finality on the issue. Coming back to debate on the same issue after the Stars’ participation at tournaments, should be a thing of the past. It must be settled once and for all.

To say that because you went through ‘hell’ during the Stars’ FIFA World Cup qualifiers in Nigeria, you deserve to be given $100,000 for the little over two weeks that the team spent in Qatar, is simply ridiculous and crazy.

There is also the issue of what the Black Stars players take at tournaments. Some outrageous fees have been quoted. It may be true. It may be false. Perhaps, there is nothing wrong going public on it to prevent vicious spec­ulations and misinformation that only come to affect the image of the GFA.

PlainTalk with John Vigah