The Minister of Sports and Recreation, Kofi Adams, has dismissed claims that Black Stars head coach Otto Addo has gone unpaid for nine months, clarifying that the government owes him only 50% of his salary.
Reports had circulated suggesting the 50-year-old coach had not received payment for several months.
Speaking to Citi Sports, Adams acknowledged that some national team coaches were owed outstanding payments but emphasized that steps are being taken to establish a more structured payment system.
“That’s true, we owed a number of the coaches, and we are looking for a structured system for payment of the coaches. In the past, before I became minister, some of these coaches, especially the expatriate coaches of the women’s national team, were paid from the sponsorship fund that goes to the FA,” he said.
He added that the funding mechanism has since shifted, placing full responsibility on the government, and that payments have now been approved by the Ministry of Finance.
“That has since changed now, all that has been offloaded onto government, and so we have submitted the details. The finance minister has since approved the payments, and the payments, even per the contract, are supposed to be in arrears,” Adams said.
The minister also clarified that Addo’s contract stipulates that 50% of his annual salary is paid upfront.
“For the head coach, we pay him 50% ahead of time. So, at the beginning of the year, 50% of his salary was paid ahead. What he is owed is actually 50%, not the full salary. So, what you pay him is just 50% also for every other month. It is not the full salary that is owed to the head coach.”
Adams further explained that payments were made from March, covering half of Addo’s annual salary for the first three months.
“So, we paid after March and also paid him 50% of the 12-month salary that is due him. What you now owe him is post-March 50% of salary because the other 50% for January, February, and March has already been paid,” he added.
