Two former Black Stars coaches, CK Akonnor and Milovan Rajevac, have threatened to take legal action against the Ghana Football Association (GFA) over a payment dispute following their dismissal from their coaching positions.
This was made known by the Youth and Sports Minister, Mustapha Ussif.
Akonnor replaced Kwesi Appiah on a two-year deal in January 2020 but was dismissed in September 2021 after losing to South Africa during the 2022 World Cup qualifiers with four months remaining on his $25,000 monthly contract.
However, Milovan Rajevac made a second return on a one-year deal on a $30,000 per month contract that same month and was subsequently dismissed in January 2022 following the country’s poor performance at the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) in Cameroon with eight months left on his contract.
Each coach received $100,000 after their terminations as part of the separate termination negotiations.
The Minister during a press briefing on Tuesday in Accra acknowledged that the Ministry of Youth and Sports has been facing financial challenges, which have prevented them from adhering to the agreed payment schedule for the outstanding salaries owed to both coaches.
As a result, the former coaches have threatened to seek legal redress against the GFA to claim their unpaid earnings.
According to the original contractual agreements between the coaches and the GFA, both Akonnor and Rajevac are entitled to their full salaries since they were dismissed before their contracts expired.
“Once the contracts of Milovan and CK (Akonnor) were terminated, we negotiated their exits and they were both paid $100,000 each after the negotiations. We still owe both of them, but we have a payment schedule which I admit we have been unable to follow because of constraints of funds,” he said.
“However, as and when we secure funds, we will be paying the two coaches. They have both written to the GFA threatening to go to court, but we have appealed to them that we are committed to ensuring that we settle whatever we have agreed with them,” he said.
Following the dismissal of Milovan Rajevac, Otto Addo took over the team and following his resignation, Chris Hughton has been named as his successor on a 21-month deal.
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