Counsel for former Black Stars coach James Kwasi Appiah, lawyer Baffour Gyawu Bonsu Ashia, has responded to claims by the Ghana Football Association (GFA) that it does not owe the coach but rather the state does.
Since the expiration of his contract with the GFA as head coach of the senior national team, the Black Stars on 31st December 2019, the GFA has not paid the coach his outstanding performance bonuses, including a five months salary – August – December 2019. The GFA however, in March this year, wrote to Kwasi Appiah demanding a handover of the GFA’s car and other related properties of the FA in his possession. Appiah accordingly returned to the GFA all properties in his possession which belonged to the FA, and also requested that the FA pays him all monies owed him which totals up to $185,000.
The FA failed to respond to the demands of Kwasi Appiah which led to a second demand notice served to the GFA on the 6th of May, 2020, in which the coach, through his legal representative, demanded for his money to be paid him within 7 working days. Till today, 13th May, 2020, two days for the 7-day ultimatum to elapse, ghanasportspage.com can confirm that the GFA has neither acknowledged receipt of the demand notice nor paid any of the amounts owed Kwasi Appiah.
Meanwhile, the FA, through its Communications Director, Henry Asante Twum, is quoted in a radio interview with the BBC, saying the GFA employs national team coaches but not responsible for their salary payments, but rather the Ministry of Youth and Sports, i.e the state does.
“The GFA does not pay the coach – it’s the state that pays the coach.The GFA is the employer of the head coach of the national team but his salary is paid by the state. He wrote to the GFA and we forwarded his letter to the ministry. It is the ministry that must pay him, not the GFA”, Henry Asante Twum told the BBC in an earlier interview.
In response to the claims by the GFA, lawyer of Kwasi Appiah, Baffour Gyawu Bonsu Ashia has insisted that his client signed his contract with the GFA and not the Sports Ministry (the state) and expects the FA to do the needful or face the legal consequences.
“We have a contract with GFA, our contract is not with the [sports] Ministry, and throughout our dealings, it is the FA that we’ve dealt with”, lawyer Baffour told ghanasportspage.com. “If you look at the letter we wrote, even though we wrote to the FA, we copied the Ministry in the letter”, he argued.
It is left to be seen whether the GFA or the Sports Ministry will pay the money to Kwasi Appiah within the 7-day ultimatum, which ends by Thursday, May 14, 2020.
