The recent, despicable incidents that took place before, on and after the 2nd of July that surrounded Banyana Banyana's 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup preparations still leave a bitter taste in the mouth!
Representing your own country should be a patriotic exercise that everyone looks forward to doing diligently. This is something that every citizen should put their hand on their chest and go out there to do with absolute pride. It should be something that people would do willingly, but that doesn't mean it has to be done freely. Football, in this case, when any team goes to a FIFA-sanctioned event, there are prior payments made to the Association for their participation and we all know that. The onus is on the individual Associations to make sure that they tick all the boxes, get their respective teams ready, so that there are no distractions to the event. However, in South Africa, we seem to always have squabbles about contracts, payments, unfulfilled promises and all that, ahead of the tournament and, more often than not, this takes away from the upcoming event and the attention it deserves.
Unfortunately, this signals misguidance because instead of everyone focusing on doing well in the games, we spend a lot of our time thinking, discussing and arguing about off-field stuff. When these things were happening in the late '90s, one thought it was all part of the learning process and that things would eventually get better. Fast-forward to 2023, we see the same challenges we thought we were cutting our teeth with. More than two decades later, the very same problems affect South African football and this is a serious indictment because it shows not much progress has been made and that's unacceptable for a country with a wealth of resources like ours. We all know the challenges faced by women's football in the country, but there are people out there who continue to make a meaningful contribution towards restoring the game's pride and ensuring that those involved get their due rewards. To see actions, seemingly, aimed at taking away from the very little that our women get from the game can only be summed up as heartbreaking.
At this stage, whatever amount of money is made should be, effortlessly, dedicated towards women's football because there are no real financial rewards for our professional women footballers. The current Banyana players are a beacon of hope and if things don't improve with them and in their time, then that means we are going to continue to produce quality players who have nothing to show for their careers after hanging up their boots. The question will be: What did these former professional players do with their money? When all they actually got from the Beautiful Game was just fame and, truth be told, no one can live on fame. Not all these teams participating in the Hollywoodbets Super League have the financial resources because professionalization of women's football is something new in our country and therefore there will always be some teething problems. Some of these teams travel long distances on matchday, while other players go months without a salary. Some of these players are part-timers, while others are fully-fledged professionals by virtue of enjoying the luxury of having all the resources necessary to playing professional football.
Now imagine a footballer who comes from a semi-professional team getting a chance to represent her country. The satisfaction and fulfilment that comes with that honour and privilege, only to realise that there is not much of a difference between the challenges faced at their struggling and semi-professional teams and a whole national team! This is a space where they expect to become proper professionals and the last thing they expect is disappointment and being made to feel small. Surely something is not right! Either we don't care about women's football or are not serious enough about improving it and making sure it gets closer to the men's game. Whatever the case may be, we just can't carry on like this and turn a blind eye to the challenges these ladies are faced with.
On the flip side of the coin, imagine a player from a proper and functional football team thinking they are elevating their career by representing the country, only to get to the national team and be met by these silly challenges? They surely feel as being treated like amateurs and taking away from the good job and effort their respective teams have put into their game's progression. What does that do to their confidence and pride, going to such a big event as the World Cup? What does that do to their patriotism and 'doing it for the country'? It knocks the wind out of their sails and completely dejects them. This is the last thing anyone would expect … not at that level! These are things that should be sorted out sooner than later because, at the end of the day, playing at the World Cup is the highest honour for any athlete and should be treated as such. It is about the pride of representing the millions of South Africans who will be glued to their television sets and rallying behind our ladies. It is not about playing for yourself or your family but doing it for the country.
The least anyone expects is to be remunerated for the services rendered to the very same country they love so much. Surely that's not too much to ask and to see a game boycotted and a possible threat that players might not board a plane to go and do national duty, at the World Cup nogal, was one of the saddest and lowest moments of our football. This sent a wrong message to say we don't care about women's football and they will go and represent us whether they are happy or not. It will all be on our terms and their needs matter not. It felt like a take-it-or-leave-it kind of an arrangement. That can't be our attitude towards the ladies and when clarity is needed but not forthcoming, people will jump to their own conclusions. That's why transparency is such an important character because if everyone knew what happened with the FIFA funds allocated to the national team, none of this would have happened.
We certainly hope this was the last time South African football was embroiled in such negativity ahead of a major event again. Surely someone must have learned from the previous mistakes that put our country's football in disrepute, so why are we repeating the same mistakes? When it was wrong to take away from the players back then, why does it seem to be okay this time around? We love this game and it hurts us when we see such unnecessary and degrading events taking place when we should be celebrating progress in women's football. Boycotts should be a thing of the past because the people who are in power now know better than anyone else what it feels like to be oppressed, so why do what you didn't want done to you back then to the current crop? Players want to play and represent their country with pride, surely expecting some kind of proper compensation isn't asking too much.
It is good that sanity eventually prevailed, although one believes there should never have been a need for those last-minute interventions. If we had done things by the book, none of what happened would have been experienced. It is embarrassing and unacceptable! Sorry to you, Banyana, that you had to go through this on the eve of a life-changing tournament and a massive assignment. The pain written all over your faces told a story of disappointment. All the best in the World Cup! On a separate note, Soccer Laduma will, from the 3rd of August, hit the shelves on a Thursday rather than your normal Wednesday supply. This was a lengthy process and not an easy decision to arrive at, but something we felt needed to be done. We hope you will accept and understand this decision. Once again, two weeks from now, don't expect your favourite football publication on the shelves on Wednesday but rather on Thursday. Please set a reminder or do whatever you need to do ensure you go to your shop on the right day.
