South Africa coach Desiree Ellis and captain Thembi Kgatlana on Sunday asked for more help from the government and sponsors to continue the development of women’s football in the country, after the elimination in the round of 16 of the World Cup against the Netherlands (2-0).
“To the sponsors: I don’t know how you can ignore something special like this,” Ellis said after South Africa’s historic round of 16. “I don’t know how you can’t help us to move up the ladder and improve,” she continued, noting that some female players still had jobs alongside football, while calling for the creation of a professional league. “Otherwise, when we come back in four years, it will be the same,” she added.
Separately, she called on businesses and the South African government to support the women’s team: “We therefore urge businesses to help. We even urge the government to step in, help and push businesses to join us,” she said. Also questioned on the subject, captain Thembi Kgatlana estimated, at the microphone of Fifa, that it was “time for the authorities to take women’s football seriously and set up a professional championship for us”.
“It’s not normal to come here unprepared. In 2019, we did not know what to expect”, explained coach Desiree Ellis, while ensuring that we wanted to be sure that “the players will have the money from Fifa through the federation”. Fifa has indeed provided players with individual bonuses taken from the allocation granted to the federations, a first.
The South Africans will each be entitled to 60,000 dollars thanks to their career. “This World Cup shows that the gap is closing, I hope the players will have the chance to play in bigger clubs because they deserve it,” said Desiree Ellis.
