We Did Not Demand $100,000 – Says Gyan

Ghana Captain Asamoah Gyan has denied reports that the Black Stars are demanding an appearance fee of $100,000 each for the 2014 World Cup in Brazil.

Last week, reports making the rounds indicated that players of the senior national team had demanded a $25,000 increment over last World Cup’s $75,000 appearance fee for each player.

Indeed Youth and Sports Minister Elvis Afriyie-Ankrah revealed that based on talks with government, the previous fee of $75,000 per player as well as last four years’ winning bonus should be maintained.

The Minister said on radio: “Based on our discussions, the government insisted that we should maintain our bonuses and for the record, the 2010 figure was $75,000 and so we should maintain the 2010 figure because we are all going through challenges.”

This assertion by the minister put paid to rumours that the players had indeed demanded an increment.

But in an interview on Angel FM Sunday, Gyan noted that the players had not held any discussions regarding their appearance fee for the tournament, adding that the major preoccupation of the team was to qualify for the second round of the World Cup.

The Black Stars are pegged in the same group with Portugal, USA and former world champions Germany.

Gyan noted that the most important thing for him and the rest of the team was for the Black Stars to book a ticket for the second round after the group games.

The Ghana captain stated that after the Black Stars had qualified from the group, then “we can set another target”.

In an interview on Angel FM, Gyan noted that Ghana’s group was a difficult one, but he was hopeful the Black Stars would qualify.

He said Ghana would have to beat the USA during their first game to set the tone for a good tournament in Brazil.

He however admitted that Ghana would not have it easy against the USA, whom the Black Stars had beaten twice in the two previous tournaments.

Source: Daily Guide