To avoid the debacle that happened with Banyana Banyana ahead of the Women’s World Cup, the South African Football Association (SAFA) have moved fast and resolved a pay dispute with Bafana Bafana.
The dispute threatened to disrupt the team’s preparations for their friendlies against Namibia and the Democratic Republic of Congo.
According to reports, the dispute was over unpaid bonuses relating to recent matches, including last June’s famous win over Morocco in Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers.
Speaking about the dispute, Bafana head coach Hugo Broos explained that everything had been resolved, and they could now turn their attention to their upcoming friendlies.
“It’s not the first company that is lacking cash flow ... in such situations, communication is very important, and this was not the case here,” Broos was quoted by the SABC.
“The communication was not good and the players were not happy and we decided to have the meeting. The SAFA CEO (Lydia Monyepao) and the Chief Financial Officer (Gronie Hluyo) came to the meeting and there was no immediate solution, I have to be honest.
“But I can assure you that this morning the problem was solved, the players will be paid but going forward we will have to learn this and the communication has to be better and there will be no problem anymore,” said Broos.
Before the women’s World Cup in Australia and New Zealand, SAFA found themselves in an embarrassing situation when Banyana players refused to play a friendly match against Botswana.
Again, this was over a pay dispute, which was only resolved after the Patrice Motsepe Foundation offered its assistance.
IOL Sport