Sports Minister Confirms Resolution Of Bonus Issues

Sports minister Mahama Ayariga has confirmed that the Black Stars were unhappy over the military style imposition of the new bonus structure, but says the issue has been resolved following recent talks as revealed by Captain Asamoah Gyan. The ministry announced a slashed package last month which saw the earnings of the players reduced by 50% from their previous appearances at the Africa Cup of Nations. The new package was announced without consultation with players which led to reports that the Black Stars could reject the package sparking a fresh row similar to what happened at the 2014 World Cup in Brazil. Gyan confirmed before the Black Stars departure for camping in Spain that the issue has been resolved as money issues is not important for the players who are keen on making their country proud. Ayariga has confirmed Gyan�s account insisting that the players are happy with the new arrangement following meetings with officials. �The players are not against the new bonus package. They are patriotic and they don�t play only because of the money,� Sports minister Mahama Ayariga said. �However, they were unhappy with the way the information was leaked into the public without any discussions with them. �But we have settled it and they are going to give off their best at Equatorial Guinea.� The Black Stars are currently in Spain training ahead of this month�s tournament. Meanwhile,Asamoah Gyan says he is impressed with the coaching methods of Avram Grant as the team trim the rough edges for the Africa Cup of Nations. Grant was handed the Black Stars� job early last month and had very little time to prepare for the upcoming tournament. The Israeli trainer presided over two training sessions in Accra before the team departed to Seville, Spain for camping. It�s early days yet but Gyan believes the former Chelsea and West Ham United manager is on the right path. �It�s been good. He�s somebody who tries to work with the players to make sure the players adopt what he says and I think it is a good thing,� the Al Ain striker said. �And so far his strategy was to just give everybody a free role to exhibit his skills to see how he�s going to use all of his players. �I�m not in his mind but as the training programme goes you could see we were doing more football work than the running so it�s a good thing for a start so we are really eager to work with.�