England women’s football team shares Banyana’s plight

The England women’s national team could reportedly resort to boycotting media duties at the upcoming FIFA Women’s World Cup in response to their football association not offering any bonuses to the squad.

Reports suggest that some players in the Lionesses squad were left frustrated after talks regarding performance-related bonuses had broken down.

The decision comes after FIFA announced a guaranteed compensation for players last month, with individuals at the tournament set to earn at least $30 000, and players from the winning team each receiving $270 000.

Last week, the South African Football Association (SAFA), the Ministry of Sport, and the Motsepe Foundation announced that Banyana Banyana received additional bonuses for their participation at the global showpiece in Australia and New Zealand.

The additional incentive did come after the national team had a very well documented stand-off with the association over several issues, which included contractual disputes over bonuses, and playing a send-off match against Botswana at the Tsakane Stadium, which the players boycotted resulting in a makeshift team taking to the pitch to honour the fixture and ultimately be thumped 5-0 by their Northern neighbours.

The Motsepe Foundation pledged R6m to resolve the conflict to the two parties on 5 July – the same day Banyana left for the World Cup.

The team is currently in New Zealand and will play a friendly match against Costa Rica on Saturday, 15 July before they open their World Cup campaign against Sweden on Sunday 23 July.

South Africa are in Group G alongside Sweden, Argentina, and Italy.