Black Queens demand unpaid bonuses

Almost three years after participating in the All Africa Games in Congo, players of the Black Queens are yet to receive their bonuses that the government promised them.

The Queens beat their Camerounian counterparts 1-0 in Brazzaville to win gold at the pan-African games in 2015, but the Ministry of Youth and Sports has since reneged on its promise.

Ahead of the 2018 Total Women’s Africa Cup of Nations which kicks off on Saturday in Accra, the national team officials are calling for a quick resolution of the bonus issue to raise the players’ spirits for the tournament.

The delayed payment in the bonus resulted in a strong protest by the Black Queens players who refused to vacate the M-Plaza Hotel in Accra where they were lodged on their return from Congo three years ago, until the intervention by the then GFA President, Kwesi Nyantakyi.

It would be recalled that following their gold medal-winning feat, the ministry decided to reward each player with $2,000, an amount the players rejected and insisted the state government owed them more than $20,000 in accumulated outstanding bonuses and other allowances. The players claimed they were promised $6,000 if they qualified to the All

Africa Games final and an additional $5,000 if they won the gold medal.

An official of the Queens, who spoke to the Daily Graphic on condition of anonymity, said the players were increasingly getting disillusioned by the development and, therefore, appealed to the ministry to resolve the issue as a matter of urgency as it could affect their morale and their general performance during the November 17 to December 1 tournament.