Johannesburg – Safa is negotiating a new incentive scheme for the new generation of Bafana Bafana players and also for Banyana Banyana, who are doing a sterling job in representing the country.
For some time, the national association, as part of its cost-cutting measures, has been working on a viable and sustainable remuneration scheme for the national team.
Bafana are involved in the 2022 Fifa World Cup qualifiers this week, having played a goalless draw against Zimbabwe on Friday and playing against Ghana tomorrow.
Recently, there has been disgruntlement regarding the huge salary disparities between underachieving Bafana and Banyana, who are fl ying the SA fl ag high in women’s football.
The general outcry is that Banyana deserve to be on a similar salary scale as their male counterparts because of their achievements in the international arena. Although Safa’s chief financial officer Gronie Hluyo would not confirm the figures, Bafana players stand to pocket a handsome R250 000 each if they qualify for the 2022 Fifa World Cup that will be held in Qatar.
The national association wants to do away with the R60 000 for a win and R30 000 for a draw.
Its argument is that the team ends up not qualifying but still gets the big bucks if it wins a couple of matches.
“We were supposed to meet the players but the schedule was tight. We introduced the matter with coach Hugo Broos and he will have a look at it and give us feedback,” Hluyo said.
“It is an output-based bonus structure and the players will get a handsome bonus if they qualify for the World Cup. The figures are very attractive but I cannot divulge them before we discuss with the players.”
“Banyana is also on top of our priorities. With Banyana, the challenge comes with funding and sponsorship. Bafana get much bigger deals and we are working around the clock to get bigger deals for the women’s teams. We seriously need to equalise the deficit and what we’ve done is that we are now giving Banyana the same daily allowance we are giving Bafana. It’s a start and a step in the right direction,” he said.
The last generation of Bafana had big stars and they did not agree with Safa’s proposal. With this team, the young players have a long future with the national team and Safa is hopeful that they can reach common ground with the youngsters.
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