Ghana's John Boye seen kissing his $100K stack from $3mil share. Special to Yahoo Sports - (globoesporte.globo.com)
Normally it's France's responsibility to go into crisis mode at a World Cup tournament, but in 2014, the baton appears to have been handed over to Ghana.
On Wednesday — a day before Kevin Prince Boateng and Sulley Muntari were sent home in disgrace— Ghana's president John Dramani Mahama had $3 million in cash flown by chartered jet to the Black Stars in Brazil to settle a dispute over appearance fees and bonuses.
This money would normally be paid to players by FIFA at the conclusion of the tournament, but according to the AP, the players simply demanded it earlier.
Incredibly, the chartered jet full of cash was not hijacked by Bane while in transit to Brazil, and it survived a convoy through the roads of Brasilia that looked like something from a Michael Mann movie:
When John Boye received his $100,000 stack, the Rennes midfielder was pictured kissing it. Which tells you absolutely everything you need to know about modern football.
Western readers may wonder why the players were not paid by bank transfer, but Globo note that cash payment is very common in Ghana. In fact, some of the players do not even have bank accounts in the country.
When The Guardian asked the players where they would keep their cash windfall in the short term, Christian Atsu responded:
"That’s a difficult question for me. Of course we will keep it in our bags. We just lock them."
Apparently, telling the world that there is thousands of dollars in a bag in your hotel room while you are out playing a game against Portugal is a solid idea. Getting that bag through customs will also be a lot of fun...
