Bafana players to split $7m winners’ purse should they go all the way
THE cash-strapped Safa has dangled a $7 million (about R131m) carrot in front of Bafana Bafana.
The contentious matter of players’ payments at tournaments is usually a long drawn-out affair, and often controversial. It has proved highly disruptive and embarrassing for both players and Safa on the eve of tournaments.
This time, however, Safa and the players have come up with a novel idea of awarding the Africa Cup of Nations’ $7m winners’ purse to the players. In that way, the cashstrapped Safa would not have to fork out money they don’t have.
And if Bafana Bafana don’t win the Afcon, they will go emptyhanded, but the team won’t be dogged by unsettling money matters.
“If they win, they get $7m,” said Safa president Danny Jordaan in an interview with the federation’s media staff. “If they lose, they get nothing.
“We want the team to focus and to perform. We have, over a period, settled this team and we don’t want to waste time discussing unnecessary stuff.
“Bafana will fare well in this edition of Afcon and we are happy that this side of the game is now laid to rest. We have discussed and signed an agreement, which remains confidential between management and players.
“We are now fully focused on the tournament, on doing well at Afcon.”
Jordaan said he took time out to join the national squad in the Winelands to attend to the matter of players’ payments.
“I am here to make sure that every box has been ticked. Nothing is outstanding and everything is in place for them to focus on football and deliver on football.
“Bafana can give us the kind of performances that will make the nation take a deep breath and say ‘we have a team’. We have to get the team to focus. We have to clear everything.”
At the meeting with Safa, the players were represented by captain Ronwen Williams, Percy Tau, Siyanda Xulu, Veli Mothwa and Themba Zwane. Safa’s contingent included Jordaan, vice-president Bennett Bailey, CEO Lydia Monyepao and Bafana’s head of delegation for the tournament David Molwantwa, a Safa national executive committee member. Monyepao said she was pleased that the association signed a memorandum of agreement with Bafana Bafana players and that it had outlined the bonus structure for the Afcon. She said negotiations between Safa and the players had been going on for some time.
Safa’s timely settlement meant that there wouldn’t be a repeat of the Banyana Banyana embarrassment on the eve of the 2023 Fifa Women’s World Cup.
“We are happy that we could meet with the players, hear them out and come to an agreement on the financial side,” said Monyepao at the team’s training camp in Stellenbosch.
A few days ago, CAF announced that winners of the Afcon in the Ivory Coast will receive the equivalent of R131m. In light of Safa’s agreement with the players, they will turn over the entire winners’ purse to the players if they are crowned champions.
Bafana will fly out to Johannesburg today and then play a friendly match against Lesotho tomorrow, behind closed doors. On Thursday, the team will travel to the Ivory Coast and arrive there on Friday.
The tournament kicks off on Saturday.
Bafana will play Mali in their opening Afcon match on Tuesday, January 16, at 10pm.