The Ghana FA intends to stop giving cash rewards to national team players at the Under-17 level, says President Kwesi Nyantakyi.
The issue of cash incentives for teenagers generated public debate a couple of weeks ago when the Ministry of Youth and Sports confirmed paying up all agreed outstanding moneys to the male national U-17 team, Black Starlets.
Each player received a cedi equivalent of $4,000 for the team’s quarterfinals feat at the 2017 Fifa U-17 World Cup played in India.
That maybe the last time such will occur if President Nyantakyi’s pronouncement is anything to go by.
He said: “We agree that we need to focus on the necessary things of life and for the young players, these things are food, clothing, shelter and education.
“We should move away from the practice of giving young players thousands of dollars. These boys tend to misuse the amounts of money given to them.”
The Ghana Under-17 technical handlers will soon begin putting together a new crop of players for the qualifiers to the 2019 Africa U-17 Cup of Nations to be staged in Tanzania. The semi-finalists at that tournament will seal automatic qualification to the World Cup also slated for the same year. Fifa is yet to announce the 2019 World Cup hosts.
