Independent Media reports that Banyana Banyana striker Jermaine Seoposenwe has admitted “there was a large amount of unhappiness” due to the late payment of their Africa Women’s Cup of Nations bonuses, but the players were never threatening any form of strike action.  

Upon arrival home from Ghana, where Banyana finished runners-up and qualified for the Fifa World Cup for the first time, the players only received a portion of the R2.4 million bonus they were promised from Safa.  “We felt disrespected as players as there was no communication.  As players, we don’t want to go into games of this magnitude (Friday’s game against Netherlands) with unhappiness,” said Seoposenwe.  But at no point were the players not going to take the field.  Safa acting chief executive Russell Paul admitted that the Awcon bonuses payments would be made later than initially promised, but praised the players for the manner in which the issue was resolved.  “We listened, and we made the commitment to pay by February 15.  The players obviously would have liked it earlier and, in fact, I can confirm that the payment will, be made today (Friday, 18 January),” he said.

• Read Zaahier Adams’ full report on this story at Weekend Argus

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