‘We still owe Rajevac, CK Akonnor; both have threatened court action’ – Sports Minister

Mustapha Ussif said Rajevac and Akonnor were paid $100,000 each after their dismissals but are still owed by the ministry.

“We still owe Milovan [Rajevac]. All of C.K and Milovan, once their contract was terminated, we sat with them, negotiated their exit and C.K was paid $100,000 immediately after the negotiation same as Milovan,” the Sports Minister said, as quoted by Joy Sports.

“We still owe both of them and we have payment scheduled which I will admit we have not followed because of constraints of funds. As and when we get funds, we will be paying the two coaches.”

Ussif further revealed that both Rajevac and Akonnor have threatened to head to court in order to retrieve the arrears owed them.

“Both of them have written to the Ghana Football Association threatening to go to court,” he stated.

“We have appealed to them that we are committed to making sure we settle whatever we have agreed with them.”

Both coaches had their contracts abruptly terminated by the Ghana Football Association (GFA) due to a series of poor results.

Akonnor was appointed as Ghana coach in January 2019 as a replacement to Kwasi Appiah, who he had served as an assistant to.

The former Hearts of Oak and Asante Kotoko manager, however, failed to impress during his time in charge of the Black Stars.

In 10 matches, he had a win rate of just 40%, having won four, lost four and drawn two. The final nail in his coffin was Ghana’s dull 1-0 defeat to South Africa in the 2022 World Cup qualifiers.

Rajevac has also had two spells with the West African side – the first from 2008 to 2010 and then a tumultuous four-month stint from September 2021 to January 2022.

The 69-year-old had a hugely successful first spell, having led Ghana to the final of the 2010 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) and the quarter-finals of the World Cup that same year.

However, his second spell didn’t go according to plan, with Rajevac superintending upon the Black Stars’ worst performance at the 2021 AFCON after the team finished bottom of Group C without winning a single game.

The Serbian was sacked after the tournament and replaced by Otto Addo, who has also since been succeeded by Chris Hughton at the helm.