The impasse with Banyana Banyana appears to have taught the South African Football Association a valuable lesson, as president Danny Jordaan admitted that they would have to start negotiations with players (regarding bonuses) earlier.
On Sunday, just three days before Banyana Banyana were meant to fly out to the 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup, SAFA had to deal with a player boycott as they stood firm in voicing their displeasure of certain issues, including the standard of the pitch at Tsakane Stadium, where they were due to play Botswana in a friendly international, as well as appearance fees for the competition.
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FIFA indicated that each player partaking at the World Cup would receive $30 000 (R564 000), but SAFA itself had not committed to paying the players anything at the time of the boycott. But, after a few days of negotiations, there was an agreement which would see players getting an additional R230 000, while the technical team members will each get R150 000. This is from a R6 million contribution made by the Motsepe Foundation.
Ithuba National Lottery made a further contribution of R2 million, which will be shared by the team.
The players left the country yesterday knowing that their decision to speak up has yielded results, but it could have been handled better and earlier, Jordaan admitted.
"We've indicated that one of the things that must happen is that the contracts must be concluded earlier. Now you'd appreciate that the primary area of participation with any player is with the club. They are there playing every Saturday. They get released based on the FIFA and then they come to the national team. So, the time frame is very short and that's why we said in terms of major competitions, when they select the teams...because we cannot have a contract with you if the coach did not pick you. The coach must select the squad and then we should sit down and finalise the contract.
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"When any negotiations start, the demand is there (up high) and the ability of the association (to meet the demand)...there is a big gap. During the process of negotiations, there must be a closing of that gap, to compromise and understand and put national duty and pride of the country as part of the process. And then the parties come to a compromise position and it's not something you can pre-determine. It's part of the process. The process is now finalised. We had to find additional revenue. We did that and the team can go knowing that everything is concluded. An earlier start to the process will be something we must do. We've received enough revenue to satisfy the demand."
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