Ghanaian legend Stephen Appiah felt “embarrassed” by the organizers of Kenya’s premium sports awards “SOYA” for proposing $2000 as his appearance fee as chief guest at the event’s gala slated for Wednesday night.
Speaking exclusively to Soka25east from his base in Ghana, the former Hearts of Oak player said he did not care about the money and was willing to grace the event for free if other arrangements were in place.
The 37-year-old says the contact person in Nairobi went silent days to the event and they have not communicated since.
“The guy said they would pay me 2000 dollars appearance fee and I immediately told him that I felt embarrassed with the figure.
“It doesn’t look good for my image to attend an event for 2000 dollars,” the former Black Stars skipper and current assistant coach said.
He added that he did not demand any amount from the organizers and was up until Monday still committed to travel to Nairobi but nobody got back to him.
“I’m not the guy who talks too much about money so I told the guy that I would prefer to go to the event for free. I have done many events that I didn’t even take anything.”
Grapevine is rife that Appiah changed positions two days to the gala – demanding double the initial agreed fee of $3000.
Appiah disputes this, “trust me it’s not about money, but some of us have kept in shape and branded ourselves so people must sacrifice also because there’s a reason why Appiah is called for an event and not other ex-footballers.”
SOYA organizers have since settled on former Kenyan international Mike Okoth as Appiah’s replacement.
Okoth is the father of on-loan Liverpool striker Divock Origi. He is regarded as one of Kenya’s former football greats – having represented the country in three AFCONs.
Sports Personality of the Year Awards (SOYA) seeks to celebrate the best performers in the Kenya’s vibrant sporting scene.
It is the brainchild of for the former marathon great Dr. Paul Tergat.
