Banyana Banyana have brought the Women’s Afcon trophy home.
The champions Banyana Banyana are back home after landing at OR Tambo International Airport on Tuesday morning 26 July 2022.
South Africa won their first ever Women’s Africa Cup of Nations (WAFCON) when they beat Morocco 2-1 in the final held on 23 July in Rabat.
Banyana Banyana managed to complete the tournament undefeated. Even before they arrived back in South Africa, they were promised a bonus for their sporting achievements.
The South African Football Association chief executive officer Tebogo Motlanthe confirmed to Sport 24 that the players would get R400 000 as a bonus. They report that:
“Motlanthe confirmed that the US $500 000 (R8.4 million) Women’s African Cup of Nations prize money will form part of the R400 000 the players and staff will each receive. The organisation, through its president Danny Jordaan, said it would shell out R9.2 million should Banyana Banyana win the tournament.”
“Motlanthe also said the players won’t be made to wait for what is due to them. Banyana, who beat Morocco 2-1 in the final in Rabat on Saturday, went through the tournament unbeaten,” reports Sport 24.
The players were greeted at OR Tambo Airport by hundreds of celebrating soccer fans as well as government officials, including Sport, Arts, and Culture Minister Nathi Mthethwa.
How CHAMPIONS land 🗣🎶
💚💛🇿🇦#LiveTheImpossible #BehindTheScenesWithBanyana pic.twitter.com/bA4wuDaoXR
— Banyana_Banyana (@Banyana_Banyana) July 26, 2022
It's time to welcome home our #WAFCON2022 champions @Banyana_Banyana
🏆🥇🇿🇦#LiveTheImpossible pic.twitter.com/gllLkYqxJV
— Gauteng Dept. of Sport, Arts, Culture & Recreation (@GautengSACR) July 26, 2022
Banyana Banyana Coach Desiree Ellis also detailed the trials and tribulations that come with being part of the women’s football fraternity. In a Sport 24 piece Ellis is quoted as saying: “When I played for the national team, I lost my job along the way.”
“Just after 2010, I could have gone to the Netherlands for a Uefa B Licence [course]. I wasn’t employed at the time and I had four months left on my car and I had a bond to pay.”
Fans and commentators have now called for pay parity for the female national football team as well as sustainable sponsorship that will secure the development of women’s football and the growth of Banyana Banyana.
