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Former Hearts of Oak star Bernard Don Bortey has expressed his frustration over treatment meted out to him by former Ghana FA administration, revealing that erstwhile FA general secretary Kofi Nsiah stole his $9,000 from the 2006 World Cup qualification bonus.
Ex-president John Agyekum Kufuor announced rewards of $10,000 each to the playing body and technical staff of the BlackStars for clinching a 2006 FIFA World Cup ticket.
The money was in addition to $8,000 each member of the squad picked up as bonus after winning 4-0 against Cape Verde in Praia on the final match of the qualifying series to seal the nation’s first ever World Cup appearance.
According to Dong Bortey, he received just $1,000 from the $10,000 reward from the president despite playing a key role in securing the World Cup ticket.
“I played most of the qualifying games to our [Ghana] World Cup in 2006. Former president Kuffour [John] rewarded $10, 000 each to every player who played a part in the qualifying campaign. The money came from the Sports Ministry, with every player’s name boldly written at the back envelopes so I went to the FA to take my share,” Bortey said in an interview with Caci TV.
“Kofi Nsiah [former FA general secretary] showed me an envelope with my name at the back. He counted $1,000 from my own $10,000 share and gave it to me. So the question I kept asking myself was, where is my balance. Is the person who took the money my relative? That money was my sweat.”
“I decided not to talk about it but it’s haunting me because if the president’s order was to give every player who even kicked a ball for the team $10,000, why should I be given just $1,000. I remember playing against Somalia here and we beat them 8-0. I featured heavily in that game, and also against Uganda and Congo so why did I not get the $10,000? he quizzed.
“If I reflect on the past, I will say Ghana football and the FA have not treated me well,” he deduced.
