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Former Vice Chairman of the Ghana Football Association, Joseph Ade Coker has questioned the rationale behind the Black Stars coach receiving more salary than the President of Ghana.
The outspoken Greater Accra Regional Chairman of the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) who was speaking on Angel Fm’s Floodlight Sports with Saddick Adams, believes it doesn’t make economic sense with to pay the Black Stars coach, C. K Akunnor, more than President Nana Akufo-Addo, insisting, the country does not get any benefit from football.
Over the past few weeks, the salary of C.K Akunnor has become a major a headline in the media space, after the Minister of Youth and Sports, Isaac Asiamah publicly called on the gaffer to accept a pay cut on his nine month unpaid salary.
The former Kotoko coach was appointed as the new head coach after the GFA parted ways with Kwasi Appiah.
Mr Ade Coker is of the view that spending huge amount of money on a local coach with a “white man’s certificate” is an absolute mismatch and not beneficial to Ghanaians in any way.
According to him, “what does the country get from Black Stars? If the Black Stars are winning trophies with a world class coach and we are paying huge sums of money that is fine. But if it is a local coach with a certificate…and we’re paying such huge amounts when they cannot put up any better competition against their foreign counterparts, then we must definitely look at the payment structure of the Black Stars coach, especially with all the hardships facing our economy. Because upon all the money the country invests in football, there is absolutely no benefit.”
Salary structure and minimum wage have been a huge point of conversation among polititicians going into the 2020 polls.
But Mr Ade Coker disagrees that a local football coach takes more renumeration than the President of Ghana.
“If the President of Ghana is getting 20,000 Ghana Cedis at the end of the month, why must a local Ghanaian coach with the white man’s certificate receive 25,000 dollars. It is, therefore, irrational for the Black Stars coach to receive more salary than the President of Ghana. In terms of trophies what is there to show? It is therefore a mismatch. I would suggest that our resources are spread across the sporting field…which we can benefit from.
“We don’t have the players with international quality to deserve the money we are paying them. The money should be used to develop the sports at the lower level.”
He, however, entreated stakeholders to create a salary system for the coaches based on the economy of the country.
“We must look at the level of the economy and structure a salary system for the coaches after all, the coaches are local coaches with foreign certificates. If any worker attains a PhD from a foreign country and decides to work here in Ghana, he will be paid per the salary structure here and not according to what is paid outside”.
