The Ghana FA no longer pays winning bonuses at major tournaments, its president tells supersport.com. The revelation has come at a time the outfit has been under fire for ostensibly failing to reward the national under 17 national team currently in Azerbaijan.

In previous years, the Black Maidens would have been rewarded for beating Uruguay and China on their way to the semis, but it did not happen. That is because the country's football authority has tweaked its payment systems for big tournaments.

"What we pay now is qualification bonus and not winning bonus," Kwesi Nyantakyi tells supersport.com. He explained that the new concept started with the senior national team during the Angola 2010 African Cup.

In that campaign, the Stars lost their opening game against the Ivory Coast, but once they beat Burkina Faso to qualify for the quarter finals, they were paid a qualification bonus that did not factor the earlier loss in the group game.

To clarify the new regime, Nyantakyi explained the process. "So if a national team may loses its first two games at a tournament, but still wins the last one to go through to the next stage of the competition, they would be paid a qualification bonus that takes care of all three games in the group."

The head of the FA said this was important to stop the payment of "meaningless" bonuses, but stressed that the concept is only applicable during tournaments. "Indeed, we want to totally steer clear of having a pyrrhic victory on our hand." What is the use when you beat two teams and still fail to qualify for the next stage of the competition?"

The major problems with winning bonuses in the past have come from the quarters of the Black Stars, Ghana's biggest football brand. The culture of huge bonuses really took off when Nyantakyi himself came to power and sought to breathe professionalism and motivation into the national sides.