Ivory Coast players showered with $3m and houses for AFCON title success

Published on: 12 February 2015
Ivory Coast players showered with $3m and houses for AFCON title success
Yaya Toure and his team mates were showered with houses and cash

Ivory Coast government has splashed an amount of $3m and a house each to members of the national team and support staff for winning the 2015 Africa Cup of Nations in Equatorial Guinea.

Ivorian President Alassane Ouattara is giving each member of the 23-man squad a house worth $52,000 (£34,000) and the same amount in cash, the government says.

In Ivory Coast that amount will buy you a house in the affluent neighbourhood of East Legon and Adjirigaor in the sprawling Ghanaian capital, Accra

The team beat Ghana’s Black Stars 9-8 on penalties in the tournament’s final in Equatorial Guinea.

There were also six-figure rewards for the Ivorian Football Federation and the team’s technical staff – in total the government has shelled out more than $3m (£2m) in celebration of the victory.

It wasn’t a total loss for Ghana’s team, despite their penalty defeat. Each player is being given $25,000 (£16,000) by the team’s sponsor, the state-owned Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC), a figure that the country’s sports minister thinks is a little low.

Mahama Ayariga says the sacrifice the players made during the tournament for the country in Equatorial Guinea means they deserve their reward.

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