It appears the Sports Ministry and the Ghana Football Association (GFA) are unhappy bed fellows if what sports minister Nii Lantey Vanderpuije divulged recently is anything to go by.
According to Mr Vanderpuije he shall seek the best interest of the country in the execution of his duties if it even means some elements in the sporting fraternity get peeved in the process.
“Personally, as Nii Lantey Vanderpuije I don’t have a problem with anybody at the GFA because at the end of the day I don’t care who is the FA president. What is of interest to me is Ghana football,†he declared.
Disturbed by some covert practices at the Football Association, the former sports commentator warned if the country fails to incorporate modern and relevant practices into football management, there would be disaster as the country has only been lucky not to fall apart sports wise.
Appearing as guest on TV3’s Hot Issues on Saturday, the sports minister submitted his attempted reforms should not lead to animosity between his humble self and the Football Association.
“If you led a certain path and today, trends have changed, the dynamics of the situation demands that we should relook at the way we have done things in the past, I don’t think it should call for hatred or it should call for animosity. We should sit down and talk.â€
Since becoming minister in February, Mr Vanderpuije has declared that the country cannot continue to be paying wining bonuses to Black Stars players and the management team stressing spending $1 million on the stars per match is a huge financial burden that cannot be sustained.
“The difficulty that I’ve had is how to sustain, for example, issue of winning bonuses. It is just not sustainable as a country; it doesn’t make sense- bonuses to players, bonuses to officials,†he said.
He added the situation is compounded when management members receive per diem, are given tickets to all matches as well as hotel accommodation all at the expense of the State.
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