South Africa went into a national frenzy when it won the opportunity to host the Rugby World Cup in 1995 and again now over the Fifa World Cup this year.
Yet South Africa and the continent as a whole are ignoring a sports resource that could draw even more wealth and development into the region: women’s football.
This market holds vast potential for corporate sponsorship, media attention and nation-building. Yet it remains untapped, largely because of prejudice about women’s abilities on the football field — even as South Africa prepares to host the African Women Championship in Gauteng in October.
Instead of allowing football fever to subside once the Fifa World Cup has come and gone, business and media could redirect that heat to support women’s football in South Africa and help it become one of the strongest sports on the continent.
The business sector recognises the global appeal of football and looks for ways to ride the wave through marketing and sponsorships. Developments in technology and mass communication have allowed unprecedented international audiences and sponsors for football.
One team of scholars refers to the “sport-media-business alliance” as a “tripartite model of sponsorship rights, exclusive broadcasting rights and merchandising”.
Yet in a country that is football-mad, female footballers are battling to find a place in this model. Martha Saavedra, the author of Football Feminine — Development of the African Game: Senegal, Nigeria and South Africa, says: “Seeking to empower females through sport is somewhat paradoxical given that the world of sport can be a bastion for male privilege and power.”
The irony is that South Africa has a women’s football national team that is well worth watching, cheering for and sponsoring. The South African Football Association (Safa) website notes that Banyana Banyana won the Confederation of Southern African Football Associations championship in 2002 and the Southern African Zone-6 Games in 2006. In 2003 and 2007 they were runners-up in the All Africa Games.
Yet the players on Banyana Banyana are not paid as well as their counterparts in Bafana Bafana, nor do they get the same media attention as the men’s team. As one player complained last year to Mari Engh: “We perform well, we come back with trophies of tournaments, and then — we don’t get recognised for it. Whereas the guys, they show every single game [on TV] and they have been losing, losing, losing.”
Research findings show that the main barriers to women participating in sport today are lack of finances to pay for transport, equipment and playing fields; lack of support from male-dominated institutions such as Safa; and the widespread stereotype that women who play football are “masculine”.
Safa administrators have even demanded that Banyana Banyana team members attend etiquette classes and wear skirts when travelling. One official told City Press in 2005 that Banyana Banyana “need to learn how to be ladies”.
Yet women’s football is growing in popularity in other parts of the world, with or without skirts. The 1999 Women’s World Cup, hosted by the Unites States, attracted 65000 spectators and all 32 matches were broadcast to more than 70 countries.
South African corporates are beginning to catch on to this concept. Sasol and Absa, for instance, both sponsor women’s football leagues. Sasol sponsors both Banyana Banyana and a provincial premier league of 144 teams. All teams in the Sasol League receive a “starter” pack at the beginning of the season: water bottles, a cooler box, first-aid kit, bibs, cones, full match kit, and so on.
In February 2009 Sasol hosted road shows in all the provinces to raise awareness of women’s football to enable provincial players to try out for the national team. Winners of the provincial premier leagues competed in the Sasol National Championship in Cape Town in August. These games were every bit as exhilarating as those played by provincial men’s teams.
Sasol’s sponsorship enables Banyana Banyana to play more overseas games. In the build-up to the African Women Championship in October, Banyana Banyana competed in the Cyprus Cup in February, against teams such as Japan, Canada and Brazil. The team is also planning fixtures against Switzerland, New Zealand and Australia.
The top two teams at the African Women Championship in October will qualify to compete at the 2011 World Cup in Germany.
Banyana Banyana are considered to be in their best position to qualify. If they do, Sasol will stand to capitalise on its investment in a team that most of South Africa has ignored. How tragic, for the players and South Africa, if Banyana Banyana were watched and cheered on every other continent but the one from which the team sprang.
Lucy Mills and Mari Haugaa Engh are completing their master’s degrees at the University of Cape Town. This article is based on papers they delivered at the Gender Symposium of the Council for the Development of Social Science Research in Africa in November.