Benfica striker Thembi Kgatlana has said that the SA Football Association’s Sasol National Women’s League can attract a few more sponsors and financial muscle that can lift the standard of the brand new innovation.

The SA Football Association's (Safa) 12-team national women’s league has had its teething problems in its first season.

A huge improvement on the diluted‚ previous 144-team regionally-organised league‚ the new Sasol league has had some organisational hitches and remains threadbare in structure.

Notably in November a match between First Touch Academy and the University of Johannesburg was delayed by more than an hour after the referees failed to arrive on time.

Kgatlana recognised that the first season of the National Women’s League (NWL) – suspended currently due to the coronavirus – is an important start‚ but the Caf 2018 African Women’s Player of the Year said going forward she hopes to see the league boosted in infrastructure and finances.

The 24-year-old striker said her experiences playing for the Houston Dash in USA’s National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL)‚ Beijing BG Phoenix in China and now Portugal had opened her eyes to the level of organisation internationally of women’s football.

“It’s not as easy as it looks.

"For example‚ the NWSL took about four to five tries before it could get to where it is because they kept on failing and failing‚ and looking for different approaches and styles of management‚” Kgatlana told an online press conference of the SA Football Journalists Association (Safja).

“For the NWSL to be considered the best league in the world is not by chance.

"They have worked hard to be where they are‚ they have invested a lot in women’s football‚ and they are still investing a lot.

“In China‚ you see how financially they are getting a boost. … In Europe it combines both styles when it comes to China and the USA.

"You have your professionalism‚ your nutritionists‚ coaches.

“Those are the things that need to be implemented in SA. Yes‚ it will take a while. But I think the first thing we need to do is to look at the financial gains.

“Not for the players‚ but for the league. If we can get four or five big sponsors pooling in together‚ I think that would give not only the girls a boost‚ but the national team too.

“Because then the opportunities would be there for the girls to not only work hard for Banyana‚ but also for their clubs.”

Kgaltlana signed for Benfica in Portugal’s Campeonato Nacional Feminino in January.