Cameroon changes rules on bonuses

Cameroon coach Volker Finke has announced significant changes in the way bonuses are given to the players, in the final countdown to next week's start of the Africa Cup of Nations.

Previously, players were given participation bonuses for taking part in the final phase of big tournaments such as Afcon or the World Cup.

But the German said this leads to injustice and agitation in the team, and participation in qualifiers is now rewarded as well, with each player getting 5 million Central African francs (9 000 dollars) for every Afcon qualifying match played.

"It is unjust for a player to help in qualifying a team for a competition like the Africa Cup of Nations and not be compensated simply because he couldn't, for one reason or the other, take part in the final phase of the tournament," Finke said.

"What we now give are qualification bonuses, calculated based on the number of matches each player played during the qualifiers," he explained.

Finke did not say what players get at African Cup of Nations will get for every match at the January 17-February 7 tournament in Equatorial Guinea where the four-time winners are in Group D with Ivory Coast, Mali, and Guinea.

Quarrels over bonuses have traditionally caused trouble in the Cameroon team at major events, and Finke will be hoping that the new scheme will lead to a peaceful tournament.

Finke said his team is still being rebuilt after a disastrous outing at last year's World Cup in Brazil, where they lost all three games, but added that not being among the Afcon favourites could also play to his side's advantage.

"We aren't the favourites in this competition and this is better than going to the competition with a superiority complex," he said.

Finke and his players are currently in Gabon where they are set to play a tune-up match against South Africa on Saturday.