The rather uncomfortable money-related conversation on how the Amajita will be incentivised has started. But SA Football Association president Danny Jordaan says those talks will start once they receive money from the Confederation of African Football (CAF).
“We haven’t received any money from CAF yet. And when we have the money, we will decide [how it’s divided],” Jordaan said during the Amajita homecoming at the OR Tambo International Airport.
Hero’s welcome
The SA U20 men’s national team returned to a hero’s welcome following their U20 African Cup of Nations (Afcon) triumph in Egypt last Sunday.
Amajita beat Morocco 1-0 during their first-ever Afcon final in 28 years. And they are expected to get a R3.6-million prize money from CAF for winning the competition.
As per the norm, when a national team does well at a major tournament, they are expected to be incentivised by Safa based on the agreement made prior to the competition.
It is, however, public knowledge that Safa has been faced with financial woes in the past. The most recent incident was that of its employees not being paid their March salaries on time.
The embattled Safa president has since suggested that the participation of all the junior and senior national teams in almost all competitions in recent times has emptied their coffers.
International matches
“One thing that we know and that you [the media] know, [is that] the SA football has not missed a single international match. We comply with our commitments. We even play in CHAN [the African Nations Championship.”
“In the past, we didn’t play in CHAN. We play in every single competition under both CAF and FIFA. And that means travelling, accommodation, daily allowances, and everything. And we fulfil our commitment,” Jordaan added.
Big sporting calendar
Safa will still have a big sporting calendar ahead of them. This as both Amajita and Amajimbos (U17s) have qualified for their respective FIFA World Cups later in the year.
Banyana Banyana will start their Women’s Africa Cup of Nations (Wafcon) title defence in July. Bafana Bafana will also look to go a step further in the Afcon in December in Morocco.
Bafana are also on the verge of qualifying for the 2026 FIFA World Cup in the US next year. This also includes Mexico and Canada.
