Sports & Recreation Minister Kofi Adams has dismissed reports that Black Stars head coach Otto Addo has gone unpaid for nine months, insisting the government owes him only 50% of his salary.

Recent claims suggested the German-born coach was owed his full monthly wage of $50,000, but Adams says half of that amount was already paid at the start of the year, in line with his contract.

Speaking on the issue in an interview with Channel One Sports on Friday, December 19, 2025, the Minister admitted there are outstanding payments to several national team coaches but said steps are being taken to streamline the process.

“That’s true, we owed a number of the coaches and we are looking for a structured system for payment of the coaches. In the past, before I became minister, some of these coaches, especially the coach, the expatriate coaches of the women’s national team was paid from the sponsorship fund that goes to the FA.

Coach Otto Addo with Brandon Thomas Asante

According to Adams, the funding arrangement has since changed, placing full responsibility on government, with approval now secured from the Ministry of Finance.

“That has since changed now, all that has been offloaded onto government and so we have submitted the details. The finance minister has since approved for the payments and the payments, even per the contract, is supposed to be in arrears.”

He explained that Addo’s contract allows for half of his annual salary to be paid upfront.

For the head coach, we pay him 50% ahead of time.
So, at the beginning of the year, 50% of his salary was paid ahead. So, what he is owed is actually 50%, not the full salary.

Kofi Adams

The minister stressed that this arrangement applies monthly and should be properly understood.

“So, what you pay him is just 50% also for every other month. So, it is not the full salary that is owed to the head coach.”

Adams added that payments were made up from March, when a press Conference was announced to pay all national coaches that were owed , covering half of Addo’s annual salary for the first three months.

So, we paid after March and also paid him 50% of the 12 month salary that is due him. So, what you now owe him is post-March 50% of salary because you would have paid the other 50% for January, February, March. So, you now owe him only 50% of the remaining months.

The clarification comes amid growing public scrutiny over remuneration issues involving national team coaches as Ghana prepare for the 2026 World Cup