‘Can Be Life-Changing’ - Benni McCarthy Shares Impact of President Ruto's Ksh1 Million Bonus on Harambee Stars Players

Harambee Stars coach Benni McCarthy says the impact of President William Ruto’s winning bonus cannot be overemphasised on his team.

President Ruto is due to hand out the first of his reward after he promised each player and members of the technical bench Ksh1 million for every group stage win at the 2024 African Nations Championships (CHAN 2024).

Harambee Stars responded by beating DR Congo 1-0 on Sunday, when Austin Odhiambo’s lone goal made all the difference, and each of them has a chance to collect up to Ksh4 million if they can win the remaining three group stage games against Angola, Morocco and Zambia.

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For McCarthy, this is huge motivation that can make all the difference on the pitch given the players are local based and their earnings do not come close to the instant windfall promised by the President.

“When you win football matches you get greatly rewarded so it was a great initiative from President Ruto to come in a motivate the boys and give them such huge incentive because when you look at it, it can be life-changing for many of these players because they are local based and do not have the biggest of salaries that you see there,” said McCarthy.

“So, when you come into the CHAN tournament to motivate you and to get you even an extra energy boost and when you have a bonus like that to think about, is great but for me it is all about football. It is a game that if you have talent and work hard, if you do the business on the field, off the field will take care of itself.”

However, the South African tactician wants his team to focus on putting in great performances as he believes they have a mountain to climb against their next opponents but can use the bonus as the fuel to drive them to victory.

“We worry about winning football matches first and after, we count our collecting one by one but the process is about trying to win as many games as possible but our goal as a team is to sit down and say we know we are in a Group of Death,” he added.

“Everyone does not give us a chance, it will be impossible to get through the group from the outside but from the inside, we know what we have and who we are so we will show up every game and just play with the passion and love.

“With our incredible family and team spirit that we have, who can beat that? If we get beat, we hold our hands up and say congratulations we were beaten by the best team but if you do not turn up to come and play against us with heart, you will have second comings and we will end up nicely once we do what we are needed to do, we count our winnings.”

Harambee Stars play Angola in their match on Thursday and another Ksh1 million is awaiting them if they secure victory.

From the President’s reward scheme, each player squad member is assured Ksh500,000 for every draw while a place in the quarter-final will earn the team Ksh60 million, Ksh70 million in the semis while if they win the tournament, the Head of State has promised them Ksh600 million.