Sports News of Monday, 27 March 2017

Source: goal.com

Nus leaves for Spain but how did the saga end?

Gerard Nus Gerard Nus

After seven weeks, the tussle between Spanish coach Gerard Nus and the Ghana Football Association finally ended, with his departure for Spain on Sunday night.

One of Ghana's assistants at the 2017 Africa Cup of Nations in Gabon, the Spaniard had refused to leave for Europe until all bonuses owed him were fully settled.

“I am still here in Ghana because some [financial] terms [of my work have not been fulfilled],” Nus had told Goal.

“When you work as a human being, you expect to be paid but unfortunately at this moment, I have not been paid for the Afcon."

Six weeks after the tournament, Ghana's Ministry of Sports paid the former Liverpool backroom staffer $10,000 as per documents available to the entity.

Still, Nus wouldn't budge.

“Those reports that say I have been paid are lies. I have not been paid completely, at all,” Nus told Goal once again.

“The sports ministry paid me something last week, but this amount is far from the amount we agreed on with the GFA when we came to work with the Black Stars at the Africa Cup."

The Spaniard did not miss an opportunity to tell his story to the media, a move which, obviously, did not go down well with the GFA.

After an appearance on an Accra-based TV on Saturday - one of many interviews granted by the 32-year-old while in town, the Spaniard was promptly called up by the FA for his final payment, with an accompanying flight ticket for a trip back to Spain same night.

At this point, the saga seemed headed for an end. Then there was a new twist!

“Yesterday they paid me and a flight ticket was booked for me - I was so happy to go back home,” Nus told Goal on Sunday morning.

“I [didn’t expect] this. When it was time to check out, the hotel told me that there was a bill that I’m supposed to pay.

"I was prevented from leaving and the ticket is gone. I had to sleep in the sofa in the lobby for the night. This morning, the hotel duty manager allowed me back to my room.

“I have been coming here for more than two years and I never had to pay any of those expenses. Why does it have to be different now?"

Nus called this a deliberate payback "dirty card" by the FA, who released a statement with their account of the latest incident.

"When the hotel asked him to pay for the extra expenses he had incurred outside the agreed expenses to be paid by the GFA for his stay at the hotel, Mr Nus refused," the statement read.

"The GFA paid for his food and accommodation during his stay while expenses like the use of the mini-bar, telephone, pay television and laundry must be paid by the individual.

"As clearly stipulated in the Black Stars’ Code of Conduct, all extra expenses incurred while staying at a hotel under the auspices of the team must be paid by the individual on check out."

After this episode, the GFA still insisted against paying the controversial bill, Nus said he was never going to pay, and was, in fact, ready to stay on as long as it would take. The hotel also stood their ground. All had, indeed, come to a dead end.

Then a peacemaker emerged.

Owner of the hotel had being following the issue. His facility was making the news for the wrong reasons. This had to stop.

To kill the impasse, he offered to waive the controversial bill. A new flight ticket was made available by the GFA.

And as things will have it, Nus left on Sunday night - with a broad smile, a 'victor' in his mind and a bag of dollars.