Former Ghana coach Kwesi Appiah has revealed that some of his players kept their World Cup bonuses in their backpacks in the dressing room while they were playing their Group G game against Portugal in Brazil.
Appiah, who was relieved of his duties as coach earlier this month , was called to give evidence at the presidential enquiry into Ghana’s horrible World Cup campaign.
Some players had threatened to boycott the match against Portugal due to a dispute over unpaid player bonuses until President John Dramani Mahama intervened and sent $3million in cash via a private Jet to the Ghanian players.
Speaking to the Justice Dzamefe commission in Accra, Appiah admitted that the whole ordeal contributed to Ghana’s 2-2 draw with Germany in their second match.
“I believe if the money had come early, it would have raised their morale. I do not know why people claim we are slow starters.We lost against the USA but played well and we played at a very high level against Germany.”
An award-winning US writer is planning a Hollywood thriller based on Ghana’s bonus dispute and Appiah acknowledged that a breakdown in relations with sports minister Elvis Afriyie Ankrah had been to blame for the debacle.
He said: “Before we left for the final game the minister was put on speaker phone where they told minister if the money was not in Brasiia upon arrival they would not train.The minister promised the money would be in Brasilia and when they arrived and there was no money they went on strike.”
In a separate incident, former Tottenham midfielder Kevin Prince-Boateng allegedly came to blows with Appiah during a training session and was eventually sent home with AC Milan midfielder Sulley Muntari.
“Yes there was a confrontation and exchange of words, he was using foul words and it wasn’t nice,” said Appiah.
“If something that happens only once then we could forget and move on but he kept on repeating it in front of the younger players.
“Kevin made me angry and I told him I don’t want to see him. When it happened he knew I was angry and so was he.
“I did not report the matter for two days to see whether he would show remorse but he did not. Everytime he saw me he would frown and move past me and so I went further to report it to management and the decision was taken to send him home.”
Meanwhile former Black Stars captain Stephen Appiah – who acted as an assistant to his namesake in Brazil – also lifted the lid on some of the problems surrounding the bonus payments.
He said: “I called Asamoah Gyan, Dede Ayew and Michael Essien. I told Gyan to convince the players and he went and had a chat with them.
“There was no training in Brasilia on Tuesday morning because the players were tired. We had a meeting with coach Kwesi Appiah and Gyan after which we went individually to call the players for training in the afternoon.”