SA Football Association (Safa) president Danny Jordaan says it has been decided to pay Banyana Banyana players the same amount as Bafana Bafana players get.
For years there has been an outcry about the pay gap between Banyana and Bafana footballers.
While Bafana players are said to be given huge incentives, the women are believed to have been getting a pittance from Safa, except for last year when they won the Women’s African Cup of Nations (Wafcon).
Banyana players were each paid at least R400,000 by Safa and shared R5.8m from the sports department.
The R400,000 came from the R10m bonus Safa promised Banyana players if they won the Wafcon, which they did by beating hosts Morocco in the final.
Asked if they are going to make a similar offer to Banyana players before their participation in the Women’s Fifa World Cup, Jordaan could not confirm this but said Safa has followed a few countries that have introduced equal pay for men and women.
“My experience is that these carrots don’t give you better performances, but it is the commitment, the will to win and the determination to fight [that does]. Carrots come later,” Jordaan said.
“That’s why it is public what Fifa is putting on the table [the appearance fee of R572,000 per player].
“In our commitment to pay parity, we can say Banyana will receive exactly the same as Bafana,” he said.
“The carrots Bafana get, Banyana will also get. No-one will get a bigger or smaller carrot.”
Jordaan believes players should not be motivated to work hard purely because of bonuses but that the effort should come naturally.
“But as you can see, if you look at Bafana’s performance against the best team on the continent [Morocco in an Afcon qualifier in June], it’s about that kind of commitment,” he said.
“That energy, that hard work, that brings success ... and I think this team understands it. I saw them [Banyana] in the final match against Morocco where they had Mama Joy [Chauke] and nine other supporters and Morocco had the whole stadium.
“These girls were prepared to fight even when the referee said four minutes and the assistant said nine minutes of extra time. They fought until the last minute.
“That is the commitment you need here. The margins between the teams are going to be slight and it will depend on the teams on the field,” Jordaan said.
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