By Mark Baber
June 9- Cameroon’s squad is departing for Brazil 12 hours later than scheduled, after settling a dispute over World Cup pay with their Federation which had to borrow money to be able to meet the players’ demands. Meanwhile, in Spain, there is uproar as the players are offered $720,000 each if they win the World Cup.
Acting FECAFOOT president Joseph Owona said in a statement: “The Cameroonian football federation regrets to announce that the departure of the special plane which must transport the national team as well as Cameroon’s official sports delegation to Brazil was postponed late this evening.”
Cameroon’s squad refused to board their charter plane to depart of the World Cup until an agreement was struck with the government and FECAFOOT for them to each receive an extra 5.8m CFA francs (£7,200) on top of the 50m CFA francs originally offered for participation in the tournament.
FECAFOOT spokesman Laurence Fotso commented, “Everything is OK now. We will embark tonight.” Explaining that the Federation received its money from FIFA, “three months after the end of the competition” the Federation had “borrowed money as a private loan to satisfy the players.”
The players had suspended a previous strike ahead of their friendly against Germany last week and Sunday’s events mirrored a similar stand-off just before the 2010 World Cup.
Meanwhile, in Spain politicians reacted with anger after details were revealed on a 3 June agreement between Spain’s Football Federation and the players over World Cup bonuses.
Each Spanish player will receive a €180,000 if the team reaches the semi-finals, €360,000 if they reach the final and €720,000 if they win the World Cup.
In 2010 each player received €600,000 for winning the competition. By way of comparison, if the Germans win the World Cup each player will receive €300,000 and if Brazil wins each player will receive €330,000. In the unlikely event England win each player would receive £350,000 (€431,000)
With unemployment in Spain having reached 25.93% in the first quarter of 2014 and child poverty standing at 21%, MPs slammed the bonuses as “disproportionate” and “an insult to citizens.”
FIFA’s prize money for the 2014 World Cup winner stands at $35 million.