Jordaan regrets not starting Banyana pay talks early

After the Banyana Banyana and Safa dispute regarding World Cup bonuses was resolved, president Danny Jordaan admitted they should have started negotiations earlier.

A call to CAF president Patrice Motsepe by minister of sports Zizi Kodwa saw the Motsepe Foundation step in at the last minute to contribute towards Banyana to resolve the bonus issue.

Speaking during the media briefing yesterday in Sandton, Jordaan said in future, they would have to start contract negotiations early to avoid issues like what happened at the weekend.

“We at Safa have recognised clearly that the issue of contract negotiations started too late,” Jordaan said. “So, one of the things that we have to do is to start earlier. What happened is that the coach [Desiree Ellis] will announce a preliminary squad of 40 to 50 players and the administration will wait until she announces the final squad which happened on June 25 in Pretoria.

“And then some of the players arrived late, so that is when we started the process. But we recognise it was too late and therefore, there will be difficulties.

“We have to start earlier at a point where the preliminary squad is announced, the contract must be in place and everything must be done.”

While Safa will receive $1.5m (about R30m) to cover the travel and other costs around the tournament, the association was not allowed to take money from this pot for player stipends.

“When Fifa gives you money in the contract, they allocate that amount to women’s football, this one goes to development and so on,” Jordaan said. “Then they send their own auditors, not Safa ones, to audit. It is very simple, write to Fifa and ask for an auditor’s report because if you steal one dollar, you can be rest assured you will not be funded next year.

“Fifa doesn’t give you money and you do what you want, they transfer it with specific instructions.”