President Of Ghana Sends $3m Raw Cash By Plane To Brazil To Settle Bonuses Of Players

As much as $3 million in cash sent by Ghana's president was expected to arrive in Brazil on a plane Wednesday in a bid to appease members of the country's World Cup squad who are unhappy at being denied bonus payments.






President John Dramani Mahama has been forced to personally intervene in the latest bonus row to hit African football, which has seriously disrupted Ghana's preparations for its decisive Group G game against Portugal on Thursday.





Ghana midfielder Christian Atsu dismissed fears the team would boycott its final group game in Brasilia, which the Ghanaians need to win to stand any chance of reaching the second round.



'We are not going to say we are not going to play because of the money,' Atsu said. 'We love ournation and. we are going to play for our nation.'



Asked what the players will do with the appearance-fee cash -reportedly between $75,000 and $100,000 each - if they receive it
as planned on Wednesday, Atsu said: 'I think we will keep it in our bags and we'll just lock them.




And we will transfer the money to our accounts.'




Ghana coach Kwesi Appiah said he had been having 'sleepless nights' over the issue which came to a head on Tuesday when the players and team management had a meeting instead of conducting a training session. President Mahama 'personally spoke to the players' to assure them they would receive the money, the Ghana Football Association said in a statement.