The devastating effect of the COVID-19 pandemic has compelled the Ministry of Youth and Sports to slash down the salary of Black Stars coach, CK Akonnor, much against his will.

Akonnor’s $25,000 monthly salary has been in arrears since his appointment in February due to the coronavirus outbreak, which has led to the inactivity of the senior national for a greater part of the year.

In view of that, the Sports Minister, Isaac Kwame Asiamah, disclosed during an interview on Adom TV on Tuesday September 22 that the traumatic effect of the COVID-19 had made it impossible for his ministry to pay the full salary of the coach, hence the sudden paycut.

He said the salary reduction was a collaboration between his Ministry and the Ghana Football Association (GFA), but he failed to disclose the percentage cut of the coach’s salary

“The Sports ministry, in collaboration with the Ghana Football Association, is negotiating to reduce the salary of the Black Stars coach because we are in difficult times," he explained.

“I know he (Akonnor) will agree because he is a Ghanaian and he will understand we are not in normal times; I will not lie.

“The truth is that ,we cannot pay C.K. Akonnor’s full salary in these difficult times,” he stressed.

After his appointment, Akonnor tried to assemble some players ahead of the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations qualifier against Sudan, but the pandemic which hit the country in March forced the government to suspend all sporting activities, leading to the cancellation of the match.

The Confederation of African Football (CAF) later rescheduled the AFCON double header against Sudan to November.