Communication Director of the Ghana Football Association (GFA), Ibrahim Sannie Daara has pointed out that the fear of losing to Portugal triggered the Black Stars' agitation for the payment of the appearance fee in Ghana’s ill-fated World Cup campaign in Brazil.

“If they were to lose the game against Portugal, they will not get the [appearance] money again,” he reiterated the players’ fears.

Ghana needed to beat Portugal to sustain the hope of qualifying for the next round of the 2014 FIFA World Cup.

The Black Stars lost to old foe, United States and drew with Germany. With one point after two games, a victory would have pushed their points tally to 4.

But off the pitch, the players were getting impatient over their appearance fees, Sannie Daara told Joy FM’s Super Morning Show Thursday.

The appearance fees are monies paid to players for featuring in the World Cup. Sannie explained that just as artistes take their appearance fee before performing, the agreement was to pay the Black Stars players before the World Cup games began.

“Promises kept coming [that] the money will be here today, it will be here tomorrow”, the players kept tossed about, Sannie Daara confirmed.

With a crucial game against Portugal ahead, the players feared that government’s promise to pay them the fee would never materialize if they lost the match.

“The current players are taking the cue from what happened in the past”, he said.

Despite wonderful exploits in the past, promises made to Ghana’s football players such as winning bonuses were often unfulfilled. The players in Brazil became “so fixated in getting money”, the Director said.

Some players, he said, refused to train two days before the match if they were not paid.

Government eventually airlifted $3million to the players in Brazil – a trip televised on Brazilian TV networks. The move to airlift cash to Brazil caused international headlines of embarrassment.

The Black Stars helped themselves out of the World Cup after defender John Boye scored an own goal.

Ghana lost 2-1 to Portugal to sign off a plagued participation in the games.