Ghana’s Local Black Stars will walk away $42,000 richer if they win the 2015 COSAFA Cup, the organisers of the regional football tournament have revealed.
COSAFA announced the prize-money, which will also see the runners-up claim $21,000 while $10,000 will go to the third placed team.
“The other losing semi-finalist will take home R100 000 ($8000) while the winner of the Plate competition will receive R75 000 ($6000),” COSAFA Secretary General Sue Destombes says.
“Aside from the team prizes, there are also three individual awards for outstanding players at the tournament,” she adds.
The Ghana players could also win some cash as the Most Valuable Player, Golden Boot winner and Goalkeeper of the tournament will each receive $1,600.
“It takes the total pot of prizes over the R1.1-million ($134,500) and that means there is plenty of incentive for teams and players alike,” Destombes says.
The COSAFA Cup 2015 will be played at two venues in South Africa’s North West Province – Olympia Park in Rustenburg and the Moruleng Stadium.
The competition sees 14 teams enter this year, including guest nations Ghana, who finished runners up at the 2015 African Nations Cup in Equatorial Guinea, and Tanzania.
Group A contains Namibia, Mauritius, Seychelles and Zimbabwe while Group B features Lesotho, Madagascar, Swaziland and Tanzania.
The top team in each pool advances to the quarter-finals, with Ghana set to meet the winner of Group B and defending champions Zambia awaiting the top side in Group A.
The other two quarter-finals see hosts South Africa clashing with Botswana while Mozambique will play against Malawi.