Orlando Pirates will miss out on a lofty cheque from FIFA after goalkeeper Richard Ofori was not called up to the Ghana squad for the 2022 FIFA World Cup.
The 29-year-old was destined to be the only Premier Soccer League player to take part in the tournament but a knee injury has ruled him out of the tournament.
He initially picked up the injury in Pirates’ Dstv Premiership clash with AmaZulu when he had to replaced by Siyabonga Mpontshane.
But after missing the next two league and the MTN8 semi-final second leg, Ofori was back in goal for the MTN8 final, with iDiski Times learning that he had a relapse on his knee injury during the final, which was the reason why he missed out on his Ghana call-up.
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As a consequence, Pirates will also miss out on the compensation which FIFA pays each club who sends players to the World Cup.
The world football mother body stated “approximately USD 10,000 (R183,000) to be received for each one of the days the relevant player remains with his national team during the FIFA World Cup 2022” via the Club Benefits Programme.
Pirates would have received a minimum of $190,000 or R3.5 million for 19 days for would have spent with the Black Stars between 13 November and 2 December – even more, if Ghana would make the knockout stages of the competition.
