THE ONGOING saga between Banyana Banyana and the South African Football Association (SAFA) has escalated after SAFA criticised the South African Football Players Union (Safpu) for making misleading public statements about reaching an agreement, while also questioning the union’s legitimacy.
In a fiery statement released on Monday night, SAFA expressed shock at what it deemed to be “misleading utterances in the public domain” by Safpu.
Banyana’s 26-player Women’s World Cup squad has ignited much debate after they declined to play against neighbouring Botswana in a friendly match on Sunday.
The players voiced concerns over facing Botswana, who are ranked 150th in the world, and demanded a venue with a 2010 World Cup legacy as the Tsakane Stadium’s pitch conditions were unfit for an international fixture.
At the crux of the matter is that the players feel SAFA has been dragging its feet with player contracts and finances related to their World Cup participation.
“SAFA has noted the concerning and misleading utterances in the public domain attributed to Safpu claiming it has a co-operative agreement with the association,” SAFA’s statement read.
“This statement is false, distasteful and misleading as no such agreement is in place. It is an insult to the intellect of the nation.
“SAFA challenges Safpu to produce a copy of such an agreement. As a trade union, they should know that there are particular processes that have to be followed.”
SAFA listed these processes as:
- They must prove their membership. We challenge them to produce a list of members who are women footballers.
- They must produce the membership numbers and any payments made to the union by these members.
- We further remind them that we have more than 400 000 women footballers. How many of them are members of this union? This union has continued to make bogus claims at will and we feel it is time to call them out. This is an insult to the intelligence of our nation. We challenge him on these three things.
A day before some members of the World Cup team depart for New Zealand on Wednesday (others on Thursday), the prospect of a SAFA-Banyana agreement remains uncertain.
FIFA addressed the wage gap in women’s football by introducing a direct payment of $30 000 (R565 000) for Women’s World Cup players during the group stages, with increasing amounts as teams progress.
Banyana players are demanding additional compensation from SAFA over and above the FIFA payment, with TimesLive reporting that the players also want the FIFA payment to be written into their contracts.
Banyana Banyana World Cup fixtures: Group G
- Sweden v Banyana Banyana, Wellington Regional Stadium, New Zealand – 07:00 (SA time)
- Argentina v Banyana Banyana, Forsyth Barr Stadium, New Zealand – 02:00 (SA time)
- Banyana Banyana v Italy, Wellington Regional Stadium, New Zealand – 09:00 (SA time)
On Sunday, Gauteng premier Panyaza Lesufi led a delegation including SAFA president Danny Jordaan, SAFA CEO Lydia Monyepao, Gauteng MEC for Sports, Arts, Culture and Recreation Morakane Mosupyoe and Banyana captain Refiloe Jane, with plans to reconvene before the team’s departure for further discussions and resolution.
Monyepao confirmed on Monday that negotiations were still ongoing.
However, News24 can reveal that the minister remains in meetings with all respective bodies. A statement is expected to be released as soon consensus is met.
SAFA’s statement continued: “These [women’s] players have been nurtured and developed through SAFA structures … and we are proud of their achievements.
“FIFA, in a FIFA congress, recognised the progress of SAFA in women’s football. This union (SAFPU) sprang into action two weeks ago after FIFA announced the bonus payments to all the women footballers who will participate in the FIFA Women’s World Cup.
“SAFA must further inform the nation that FIFA’s funding is allocated to specific projects. FIFA operates on the basis that for any funding SAFA must sign what is called a contract of agreed objectives. The money is allocated in terms of the agreed objectives.
“And as pointed out in the letter, FIFA then comes and subjects the payments to their audit processes. So, SAFA cannot just use money allocated for one project to fund or use for a different purpose.
“The claim of the union that they want to establish a professional league for women is laughable. They are not a structure of SAFA, nor are they a structure of the Confederation of African Football or any football federation.”
Safpu president Thulaganyo Gaoshubelwe has denied the union had made public claims of an agreement.
The Women’s World Cup runs from 20 July to 20 August in Australia and New Zealand.
Banyana open their campaign in group G against Sweden in Wellington on 23 July.
Image (Is unity displayed by Banyana Banyana on the verge of going up in the air following allegations of money contract ahead of Women’s FIFA WC kicking off this month in NZ)?
