Brazil 2014: Ghanaian government sends €2.2m in cash to pay players

€2.2m in cash was flown to Brazil to pay Ghanaian players' fees for participating in the World Cup (12/06 to 13/07/2014), the Ghanaian government said on 25/06/2014.

The sending of this money was in response to demands from the Ghanaian players, who threatened not to play their third group match against Portugal on 26/06/2014 (18:00 CET) if the fees that had been promised at the time they qualified for the World Cup (€55,000 per player) were not paid before the match, according to Ghanaian media outlets.

"His Excellency President John Dramani Mahama has personally intervened to have the Black Stars World Cup appearance fees paid by Wednesday afternoon [25/06/2014]," said the GFA (Ghana Football Association) on 25/06/2014. "President Mahama waded into the matter after agitation from the Black Stars players over their appearance fees for the World Cup that had not been paid since the start of the competition."

"The government is pre-financing the payment of the Black Stars appearance fees which will be reimbursed when FIFA’s prize-money for Ghana’s participation in the World Cup is…