I signed a contract with GFA not Sports Ministry – Kwasi Appiah
The coach says people do not understand his basis for demanding his $185,000 from the FA.
Former Black Stars coach Kwasi Appiah has mounted a legal defense for deciding to recover monies due him from the Ghana Football Association (GFA) instead of his conventional paymasters, the Sports Ministry.
It has been the practice in Ghana that national team coaches are employed the football association while their salaries and bonuses are catered for by the State.
Appiah was employed by the GFA for a second time in May 2017 and stayed on till his contract expired in December 2020.
While exiting, the ex-international – who was on a $35,000 salary – was owed five months and has one match-winning bonus of $10,000 unpaid. He is due a total of $185,000.
Appiah feels disrespected by the new leadership of the GFA after serving them a letter in March 2020 through his solicitors but is yet to be responded to.
“It looks like they don’t care. This is money I have worked for and they are not telling me anything which I feel it doesn’t show a sign of respect and I think that my lawyers need to deal with it…
“The GFA hasn’t called me, neither has the Ministry,” he told Starr Sports.
Kwasi Appiah maintains he is right with his line of action in getting paid his due after sending a reminder to the Ghana Football Association.
“The issue people don’t understand is [that] I did not sign any contract with the Ministry [of Sports].
“I signed with the GFA so if I’ve got an issue, it is the FA that I have to deal with. And from where I stand, I know the Ministry is just supporting or assisting the FA. And it’s the FA’s responsibility to make sure I’m paid.
“If I take the Ministry to court or Fifa, they would ask for a copy of my contract and it is the FA President and [General] Secretary who signed it. It got nothing to do with the Ministry.
“I don’t understand why people are saying I receive my salary from Ministry so I should go and tackle them, no.”
Last week, the GFA came under fire when they listed Appiah’s unpaid $185,000 as part of a legacy debt they inherited.
