Minister for Sports and Recreation, Kofi Adams, has rejected suggestions that the government owes the Black Maidens, any outstanding bonus, stating that no such payment has been approved and that the team has not yet reached the level of competition at which ministry funding applies.
Responding to questions on the matter, Adams said he was not aware of any bonus due to the players, and disclosed that the Ministry had personally looked into the claims after they surfaced.
I’m not aware of any bonus due them. This is something that we have personally followed up on. I’ve come to the Ministry myself, and there is no bonus due them.” Kofi Adams, Minister for Sports and Recreation
The minister pushed back on the broader expectation among players that participation alone should attract payment, arguing that such assumptions do not reflect how bonus obligations are structured within Ghanaian football.
There’s one thing thinking that you should be paid. Everybody thinks that, okay, when I go and play, I should be paid. The state is spending… we don’t owe them any per diem,” Adams said.
According to the minister, financial responsibility for national teams shifts between the Ghana Football Association (GFA) and the government depending on the stage of competition a team has reached. At the qualifying stage, he explained, the GFA carries that responsibility; the Ministry’s obligations begin only once a team advances to a tournament sanctioned as a major, world-level competition.
Adams says government maintains no outstanding per diem is owed to the team at this stage.
Once they go into a tournament that is approved, like the World level tournament, then the Ministry comes in,” Adams said. “They haven’t reached there yet. They are at WAFU Zone B, playing for some qualifiers.”
The Black Maidens have been rebuilding in recent seasons after a period of inactivity, using the WAFU Zone B Girls Cup as preparatory ground on the road toward FIFA U-17 World Cup qualification.
The team’s current campaign therefore falls within the qualifying bracket that, on the minister’s account, remains the Football Association’s financial responsibility rather than the state’s.