South Africa’s women’s football team – Banyana Banyana – will for the first time earn the same amount of bonuses as the men’s team when they take part in the Fifa World Cup in June, the boss of the country’s football association has announced, TimesLive reports.
“This will go a long way towards closing the pay gap between the men and women footballers in this country and it is a happy day for South African football‚” Danny Jordaan said.
The men’s team – Bafana Bafana – will play in the African Cup of Nations (Afcon) in June in Egypt.
The players will get $22,000 (£17,000) each if their teams are able to reach the last-16 stage of the two tournaments, the report says.
Banyana captain Janine van Wyk welcomed the decision to give women players equal pay:
“It is truly amazing as you know that we have been fighting for equality in sport for a long time‚” she said.
Until now, the men’s teams have always earned more in bonuses during qualifiers or at major tournaments while their Banyana counterparts have received considerably less.
