Cape Town - The Banyana Banyana FIFA World Cup squad announcement and send-off gala dinner were a shambles at the Sefako Makgatho Presidential Guest House in Pretoria on Friday night.
But Banyana coach Desiree Ellis remained unbowed and dutifully read out the final list of 23 players that will represent South Africa at the FIFA Women's World Cup in Australia and New Zealand from July 20 to August 20. She also read out the names of three standby players who will travel with the team, but will return home a few days after the final squad is submitted to FIFA.
The three standby players are Nthabiseng Majiya, Amogelang Motau and Regirl Ngobeni. Ellis said in the event of injury or ill health these players will provide cover for the squad which will be captained by Refiloe Jane.
The Minister of Sport, Arts and Culture Zizi Kodwa addressed the audience but there were no opportunities for South African Football Association (SAFA) president Danny Jordaan or the officials of the team's generous sponsor Sasol.
IOL Sport has established that several speeches, including those of Jordaan and Sasol, had been pre-recorded but it was not used because of multiple system problems that arose during the function.
Perhaps, there was a pointer that the function was headed for disaster when an invitation showed the date of the function to be the 20th of June rather than the 23rd of June. The invitation was also littered with poor language.
Fortunately, the live television crossing to the function was brief and only made time for Ellis to announce the squad. Some viewers were surprised at the number of empty tables near the stage. These seats may have been reserved for the many invited dignitaries who did not pitch for the event.
The main problem was the malfunctioning sound and video systems. The engineers could not set up links with the giant screens around the venue.
The function started late and at the time when guests arrived, organisers were still setting up decorations, seating and tables.
One journalist who was in attendance said: “At some point, (Minister) Kodwa could not stomach it anymore. The minister walked up to the event organisers and production floor managers to presumably ask them what the hell was going on.'
Throughout this horror show Ellis dutifully conducted a plethora of media interviews which were mostly emotional, as she spoke about the stress of leaving players out of the World Cup-bound squad.
No doubt, much of the stress would have been brought on by missing out on a whopping R560K payday. FIFA has guaranteed every player at the Women’s World Cup a $30 000 pay cheque. Many of the players do not have contracts and this pay-out would have been life-changing. Some of the players may also be returning home as millionaires if the team manages, by some miracle, to reach the second round. In that event, the basic pay will be R1.2m per player.
Apart from the FIFA payments, players will also receive bonuses from sponsors Sasol and Safa.
@Herman_Gibbs
IOL Sport