Ghana 'ball boy' received same fee as players at 2014 World Cup

Ghana’s Football Association paid an “equipment officer” $100,000 at the Brazil 2014 World Cup, the Dzamefe Report has revealed.
In the 396-page report which investigates the Black Stars’ first-round exit in Brazil, payment for a role also defined as “ball boy” is highlighted.
Ismail Hamidu was the lucky recipient of a sum equal to that earned by individual players, doctors, coaches and manager James Kwesi Appiah.
The report also found a fee of $5,263 was paid to Ghana’s official drummer.
His beat was not enough to help the team beat Portugal in their final group fixture to reach the second round, a match which followed the country’s FA flying $3m out to South America to settle a pay dispute with players.
Two sentences in the Dzamefe Report that perhaps sum up the frustrations and difficulties of Ghana’s World Cup campaign are:

• The government’s decision to pay $100,000 to each of their 23 players “reduced the tension”
• “The players however insisted on being paid in cash and this reignited the tension”

The report aims to unpick myriad financial issues surrounding Ghana’s World Cup campaign, including some payments which could not be verified or accounted for.
Ghana received $8m (£5m) for their group-stage exit, but spent almost $4m more than that on their campaign from the beginning of qualifying.
The Dzamefe Report took four months to compile and aims to highlight Ghana’s shortcomings at the Brazil World Cup
Credit: BBC