Black Stars smiling to the bank

By Fiifi Anaman
The Black Stars of Ghana can take some consolation from a disappointing weekend as they are now $400,000 richer.

Coach Maxwell Konadu and his boys have earned this amount as their prize money for picking up silver medals at the 2014 African Nations Championship (CHAN).

Ghana lost it's second CHAN final in five years on Saturday night in Cape Town, falling to a 4-3 penalty shootout loss to Libya after a pulsating 0-0 regulation time draw.

The Black Stars played six games at the tournament, scoring four goals and conceding only once.

The 16 participating teams have all shared a cumulative sum of $3.25 million earmarked by CAF for the tournament held exclusively for players plying their trade in their home nations.

Champions Libya have bagged $750,000 in addition to the trophy, with third-placed Nigeria and Zimbabwe each receiving $250,000 as losing semi-finalists.

Morocco, Mali, Gabon and Congo DR have also earned $175,000 for their efforts as losing quarter finalists, whilst all teams that placed third in the group phase have won for themselves $125,000.

All teams four teams that placed last in their various groups find themselves at the bottom of the money chain, bagging the basic amount of $100,000 each. This includes Ethiopia, who finished the tournament winless and scoreless.

The tournament was the third edition of the CHAN, with the first two held in Cote d'Ivoire (2009) and the second in Sudan (2011).

Rwanda will host the tournament in January 2016.