Kotoko players cry foul over unfair bonus payment

The Executive Chairman of Kumasi Asante Kotoko, Dr Kwame Kyei, is on a collision course with some aggrieved players of the club who were left out of the GH¢5,000 winning bonus package for winning the MTN FA Cup.

The affected players are agitating against the decision by the management to ignore them in the sharing of the GH¢5,000 winning bonus per player for only those who were named for the final game in?Tamale, describing it as ‘unfair treatment.

’The players are unhappy about the management’s decision to overlook them in the sharing of the GH¢100,000 reward from Dr Kyei to the 20 players who represented the club in the MTN FA Cup final against Hearts in the final in Tamale on October 29, which Kotoko won 3-1.

Inside sources told the Graphic Sports yesterday that the decision has irritated the players who claim they all played roles at various stages in Kotoko’s qualification to the final, and, therefore, deserved equal treatment just like their mates who featured in the final.

The source revealed that the 20 beneficiaries ended up contributing GH¢500 each to their colleagues who were left out.

“Indeed, the players had to contribute GH¢500 each to their teammates who did not play, but the question I want to ask is, the team registered 30 players for the season and it does not make any sense to give money to only 20 players when all of them played a role in the team’s qualification”.

In the midst of the confusion, goalkeeper Isaac Amoako, who saved two penalties during Kotoko’s game against Bekwai Youth Football Academy (BYFA) during the competition, was said to have poured his frustration on a Kumasi-based radio station in the process.

However, Thomas Boakye-Agyeman, the Accra representative and Premier League Board (PLB) member of Kumasi Asante Kotoko, told the Graphic Sports in a separate interview yesterday that no player was sidelined, but rather the decision to pay the GH¢5,000 bonus was agreed between the technical team and the playing body even before the semi-final.

According to him the players who did not play in the final were given GH¢1,000 each, explaining that as per the club’s policies, players must give 10 per cent of their winning bonus to their mates who did not play and that explained why each player contributed GH¢500 to those who were not in Tamale.

He said paying higher winning bonus to players was an incentive meant to bring competition among the playing body and that the announcement of the GH¢5,000 bonus introduced stiff competition among the players who all wanted to be part of the final 20-man squad.

He insisted that nothing untoward happened as he chronicled some Kotoko matches in which players contributed money out of their winning bonuses to their teammates who were not in the team, including the quarter-final game of the MTN FA?Cup when they contributed GH¢100 each from their GH¢500 winning bonus.

Source: Graphic.com.gh