A former Sports Minister Rashid Pelpuo has defended GNPC’s decision to reward the Black Stars with $25,000 each, despite finishing second at the Africa Cup of Nations in Equatorial Guinea.

In addition to the financial reward, Tanink Ghana is giving each player and officials of the team a jeep.

Pelpuo, who was in charge of the sports ministry when Ghana finished second in the Nations Cup in Angola 2010, disagrees with claims that government is pampering the Black Stars.

Speaking to Ultimate FM in Kumasi, he said rewarding the players with that sort of money is a demonstration of government’s willingness to support people who are ready to die for the country.

“More and more, football is becoming a window through which we sell our country. And those who devote their time and energy to do it must be rewarded,” Pelpuo said.

“Let’s send a signal to all those who are willing to go the extra mile for Ghana that the country is worth dying for. It is definitely not a celebration of mediocrity. It’s merely symbolic that government is committed to supporting all those who are willing to die for the country,” Pelpuo added.