South Africa players could receive $131K for each World Cup goal from their soccer association

South Africa could get bonus for World Cup goals

JOHANNESBURG — The World Cup could really pay off for South Africa players.

The country’s soccer association wants to give its team $131,000 for each goal it scores at the World Cup next month, a move designed to inspire the team

Chief executive Leslie Sedibe said Wednesday on a local TV station that SAFA would “dearly love” to pay the one million rand reward. Sedibe said the last thing SAFA wanted was for the host nation to not qualify for the knockout stages and players “to go home with nothing.”

His comments came the same day that organizers conceded their budget to stage the tournament was severely stretched. He was quoted by the SAPA news agency last week as saying the World Cup had “blown” the country’s soccer budget.