2015 AFCON: Black Stars players, technical team pocket $25,000 each

Ghana's President John Mahama has announced a 25,000-dollar reward for each member of the Black Stars who won silver at the just- ended 2015 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) tournament.

The money was made available by the state-owned Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC), the headline sponsor of the team.

``We have a reward for you. GNPC is your headline sponsor and GNPC has made a promise to reward you when you come back.

``So, GNPC has asked me to announce that they will give a reward of 25,000 dollars to each of you as a reward for the great work you have done.

``There are other sponsors who have come forward. We are finalising the rewards, but they look quite promising and handsome to me,’’ he told the players when he met them on Tuesday.

Ghana lost 8-9 on penalty kicks to the Elephants of Cote d'Ivoire in the final match of the competition, played in Bata, Equatorial Guinea on Sunday.

GNPC also said in a statement that following the Black Stars’ outstanding performance at AFCON 2015, it was rewarding the players and technical team with a `performance bonus’.

``The Black Stars players and technical team will each receive 25,000 dollars for their efforts, which saw Ghana crowned as the second best team in Africa.

``A handful of Black Stars players won individual awards, including Christian Atsu won the best player and Goal of the Tournament.

``Andre Ayew also emerged the Highest Scorer of the tournament, Afriyie Acquah the Man of the Match for the final match, and Kwesi Appiah, the Fair Player of the tournament,’’ GNPC said.

Alex Mould, Chief Executive of GNPC, said: ``The Black Stars performance in this tournament was exceptional and, like all Ghanians, we believe we deserved to win.

``Nevertheless, we are proud of our team and are encouraged that our next trophy will come soon. Support for the team both at home and away made all the difference and we encourage all Ghanaians to continue to believe in the Black Stars.’’