Indomitable lions coach Volker Finke downplays bonus dispute

Cameroon national team coach Volker Finke has downplayed a dispute over 2014 World Cup bonus payments which almost caused the team to refuse to board the plane to Brazil.“The fact is that an agreement was reached and you don’t need to make a big sensation out of the whole story,” the German coach told the German news portal Sport1.“It’s not really as big as people made it out to be in the last few days.”

The bonus payments had been an issue for some time between the players and the federation.

According to the French sports daily L’Equipe, the players threatened to not play Cameroon’s World Cup friendly against Germany last week, which ended in a 2-2 draw.

L’Equipe also reported that the team threatened to not board the flight to Brazil if the dispute wasn’t resolved.

Cameroon media reported that the team had demanded a bonus of 182,000 euros ($A272,986) for qualifying for the World Cup but were only offered 68,000 euros.

Cameroon, who are drawn into Group A at the World Cup with Mexico, Croatia and Brazil, beat Moldova 1-0 in their final warm-up Saturday.

AAP | Yahoo