Banyana Banyana head coach Desiree Ellis has broken her silence after making a return to the fold following contractual issues with the South African Football Association (SAFA).
Ellis had been without a contract since the 2025 Women’s AFCON after initially being appointed on an interim basis in 2016 following Vera Pauw’s exit. She was then handed a permanent contract two years later.
Last month, the 62-year-old WAFCON winner finally put pen-to-paper on her new contract though it took longer than expected for certain things to be ironed out which saw Ellis miss Banyana’s successful WAFCON qualifiers against the DRC.
The former Banyana skipper was said to have been displeased with SAFA’s proposed remuneration package though she has now confirmed that all has been sorted as they prepare for the friendly international against Morocco on 2 December.
“Yeah, now everything is sorted,” she said on Game On with Thabiso on Radio 2000.
“I’m very happy that it’s sorted, and I must say a big thank you to the CEO [Lydia Monyepao] for understanding, support as well. I really appreciate it.
“It was a tough decision to make [not to go to Congo] but sometimes we have to make those decisions.
“Sometimes you have to feel the value, you also have to stand up for what you feel is right and I just needed to make sure that was right.
“It’s been a while since this was sorted, and I just needed to make sure it was sorted but I had no doubt that the team would still do well.
“We had sort of agreed but I didn’t feel it was proper to sit on the bench [for the WAFCON qualifier second leg]. I had not been in training, I had contact with coach Thina [Thinasonke Mbuli] on a regular basis, but I had not been at training, and I felt that the distraction for such a big game, it was not worth for me just wanting to sit on the bench.
“I didn’t think for me it was gonna be proper for me to sit on the bench.”
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