Black Maidens Get $3,000 Bonus Each

President John Dramani Mahama has directed the Minister of Youth and Sports to give $3,000 to each of the 21 players of the Black Maidens for winning bronze at the FIFA Under-17 Women’s World Cup.

Each of the players was supposed to take $1,500 as winning bonus if the team had won the cup.

But the President said although the team was unable to get the gold medal, he had directed the Sports Minister, Mr Kofi Humado, not to only give the players the winning bonus but also double it up for the players.

Addressing the Black Maidens at the Castle Gardens Tuesday, President Mahama said the decision to extend the package to the Black Maidens was in recognition of their sacrifice for the nation at the tournament.

The team was at the Castle to show the President the bronze medal it won at the tournament.

President Mahama said the players, although young, displayed skills and sense of purpose which took them far.

He asked other national team players to learn from the patriotic nature of the Black Maidens.

The President commended the technical team for leading the team to achieve success.

He also commended the Ghana Football Association (GFA) for introducing a policy to combine education with sports and indicated that people’s talents could be enhanced if they attained education.

Mr Humado indicated that the team had received all the winning bonuses and indicated that the performance of the Black Maidens at the tournament was splendid.

The President of the GFA, Mr Kwesi Nyantakyi, said the success of the Black Maidens indicated that the programme introduced by the GFA to select sports men and women from schools was paying off.

The Captain of the Black Maidens, Priscilla Okyere, thanked the President for the package, saying that it would motivate them to continue to give of their best for the nation.

She said the team was encouraged by the support given by the government and all Ghanaians, and noted that the desire of the team was to win laurels for Ghana.