The Chief Executive Offer (CEO) of Litina Travel and Tours, Ernestina Abrokwa, revealed that the CEO of Travel Matters Travel and Tours, Ivan Bruce Cudjoe, has refused to pay her share of the profit made in airlifting supporters to Brazil.
According to her, the CEO of Travel Matters (TM) has since the return from Brazil refused to pick her calls to discuss issues concerning profits made on the flight they jointly chartered to airlift Ghanaian supporters, corporate bodies and individuals.
The CEO of Litina Travel and Tours made this revelation when she appeared before the Commission of Inquiry probing the poor showing of the Black Stars at the 2014 World Cup tournament to brief it on the role she played, in respect of the airlifting of the Ghanaian supporters to the Brazil 2014 World Cup.
The owner of Litina Travel and Tours said she and Ivan agreed by a memorandum of understanding that they charter three flights together, and share the profit equally, no matter the number of passengers each partner brings on board.
However, Mr. Ivan Bruce Cudjoe has refused to discharge his part of the deal, for which she was subsequently considering legal action, and she was in the process of talking to her counsel on the way forward.
Throwing more light on the issue, she said Ivan was introduced to her by Ethiopian Airlines to partner him, in order to get the kind of numbers that could make up the three flights.
She added that they both made an initial deposit of 25% of the total cost at the rate of $2,000 per seat for the three flights.
She also told the Commission that once the flight was chartered, it was left at the discretion of the one who chartered to charge whatever amount, since “you have a total control over it, and you can decide how much to charge.”
She added that along the line, she and Ivan agreed to run advertisements in the dailies to get more passengers on board, but her partner later discontinued it, as he had got 614 from the Ministry of Youth and Sports.
She further disclosed that there was a discontinuation of the advertisements, since monies were not forthcoming, and the timeline given by Ethiopian Airlines for payment was drawing close.
Ernestina Abrokwa said as a result of the deadline for the payment, Ivan’s wife called her that they should visit the Flagstaff House to inform the authorities on the pending issue.
She added that the visit was fruitful, and subsequently, an amount of $1 million was transferred to them for Ethiopian Airlines.
She observed that Ivan only paid the outstanding 75% owed Ethiopian Airlines, but has subsequently refused to pay her share of the 840 supporters flown to Brazil, on which they charged $2,500 and $5,000 for the economy and business classes respectively.
However, all efforts to reach Ivan have not yielded any results.
The CEO of Litina, again, said, on the last flight from Brazil, since some people refused to come back (Asylum seekers), the plane was virtually empty, so the Ghana Football Association(GFA) enplaned 71 of their people – 53 in economy class at the rate of $2,500, and 18 in the business class at the rate of $5,000.
According to her, Ivan, after that deal, refuse to even allow her access to the manifest and money made from that as well.
He also instructed Ethiopian Airlines not to give her the manifest.
In the relative development, two former players of the Black Stars – Charles Kwabena Akunnor (ex-Captain) and Augustine Arhinful – also appeared before the Commission to brief it on the role they played as ambassadors in soliciting for funds to airlift supporters to Brazil.
The two ex-players told the Commission about their ordeal in Brazil, where they were given popular stand tickets instead of VIP, and even at the end of the second match, were compelled to sleep at airport, because there was no plane.
They admitted that they were not treated as ambassadors, because they could not even have access to the players.
On their recommendations to the Commission, the two icons said juvenile football should be given more attention, and also involve ex-players during negations with players to arrive at a good decision, because “football is played around footballers,” so they should be involved.
The CEO of King Faisal Football Club, Alhaji Karim Grusah, has also appealed to the World Cup Commission to invite him to enable him inform it on issues of how to develop local football.
Alhaji Grusah, who has been the friend of the Commission, yesterday raised his hand when the Chairman for the Commission asked Augustine Arhinful to recommend how to improve local football.
According to him, he had a lot of issues concerning the development of football in Ghana, which he would like to tell the Commission.
His prayer was granted.
Source: The Chronicle
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