It’s taken nine days, but there is some closure – for now.
President John Mahama has ordered the immediate payment of $5,000 each to the Black Queens, who have railed against the refusal of the government to honour them since their return from Congo Brazzaville.
He further promised to meet the team personally on his return from the United States, where he has been attending a gathering of the UN General Assembly.
The ladies won gold on September 18 in a gutsy final win against Cameroon in Brazzaville.
In what has been a very embarrassing week for the government machinery, the senior national women’s team have doggedly refused to accept the $2,000 (for each player) on offer from the sports ministry as winning bonuses for annexing gold at the All Africa Games.
The team had endured poor preparations before the tournament but still managed to put together a title-winning run over several games, beating highly-rated Ivory Coast and Cameroon en route to victory.
The win was historic as it marked the team’s first ever triumph at the All Africa Games, following a silver medal four years ago in Maputo.
The drama, which has played to titillating public interest since the news broke, reached a new low when the Queens were refused food at their M-Plaza Hotel base on Saturday.
Matters took a comical twist when it emerged that national team coach, Yusif Basigi, himself went to the nearby Nima neighbourhood to buy waakye for the hungry Queens.
Prior to this, the Sports Minister in a phone conversation with some key members of the Queens had engaged in an intriguing back-and-forth on radio on Saturday. Dr. Mustapha Ahmed, the minister, pleaded with the players to depart the hotel.
However, despite this directive from the Presidency, it will just paper over the cracks in the bonus impasse.
More debts
Ghana’s government owes the senior women’s national team three years’ worth of allowances, Joy Sports also understands.
The Minister for Sports Minister, Mustapha Ahmed, had told the Joy Sports Link that his outfit is broke and cannot afford to pay the players.
“We have compiled all the debts. And these debts are not debts accumulated this year. They are debts running into three years back,” he said on Saturday.
The Minister also said the the country also owed the M-Plaza Hotel, where the ladies are housed. These came to light as the Black Queens refuse to leave the hotel until all allowances of $23,000 per head are paid.
The amount comprises bonuses owed since May, as the Queens continued qualifiers for next year’s Olympic Games and the All Africa Games.
Until now, the players have been telling Joy Sports that they will not leave the hotel, despite repeated pleas by the minister for them to do so while the government raises money to pay them.
But the players have been afraid that should they leave (most of them live outside the Greater Accra Region), allowances will not be paid, as they have experienced in previous instances over the years.
