Sports Minister Gayton McKenzie (third from left) has promised Bafana Bafana players performance bonuses after their historic World Cup run, while criticising uninformed ex-players for their negative comments. Picture: Michael Sherman/IOL
Image: Michael Sherman/IOL
Fresh off their history-making exploits at the FIFA World Cup, the Bafana Bafana players are set to receive performance bonuses.
This is according to Sports Minister Gayton McKenzie.
McKenzie was speaking at OR Tambo International Airport on Thursday morning, as South Africa gave Bafana a hero’s welcome on their return home.
Hordes of fans packed the international arrivals hall to celebrate the team’s historic FIFA World Cup campaign. Supporters began gathering long before the squad’s scheduled 5am arrival, eager to catch a glimpse of the history-making Bafana side.
“This team must get the bonus. We’ve been discussing that,” said McKenzie.
“I’m going to go see what is there. Because, you see, people must not talk about things they sometimes don’t understand.
“These boys have lifted the national mood. We were all happy. We are still happy. We must show them our appreciation. South Africans want that.”
McKenzie went on to express his frustration with former players who have criticised the current team, although he did not mention anyone by name.
“People must not talk about things they don’t know. I’m referring specifically to the ex-players.
“They must stop this thing of criticising this team. None of them have achieved this level. But when you switch the radio on, they are busy criticising the boys.
“They have never reached the level of these boys. They must learn from this so that when they go into coaching, they know.”
Although Bafana lost 1-0 to Canada in the Round of 32 on Sunday, it was the first time in South African history that the national team had reached the knockout stages of a FIFA World Cup.
Few expected them to get that far.
The general expectation was that Bafana might scrape into the knockout rounds as one of the best third-placed finishers in the expanded 48-team tournament.
Instead, they exceeded those expectations by finishing second in their group to qualify automatically. In fact, that second-place finish would also have been enough to progress under the previous 32-team World Cup format — a measure of just how impressive their achievement was.