Brian Baloyi calls for separate World Cup qualifying tournament for women

Brian Baloyi has urged the Confederation of African Football (CAF) to introduce a separate qualifying competition for the FIFA Women’s World Cup, rather than allowing teams to qualify by reaching the semi-finals of the Women’s Africa Cup of Nations (WAFCON).

The Bafana Bafana and Kaizer Chiefs legend believes the current system places excessive pressure on players and prevents women’s football from developing properly across the continent.

South Africa’s Banyana Banyana kept their hopes of reaching the 2027 FIFA Women’s World Cup alive by beating Nigeria 2-1 in a play-in match. The result came after they failed to reach the semi-finals of WAFCON 2024, having been eliminated in the quarter-finals.

Banyana Banyana and Ghana will now join eight other nations in a 10-team play-off tournament at the end of the year. The play-offs will determine the remaining World Cup qualifiers after the teams were unable to secure qualification through the 2026 WAFCON semi-finals.

Baloyi, speaking as a Hollywoodbets ambassador, said CAF should reconsider the long-standing arrangement. Hollywoodbets sponsors the Hollywoodbets Super League, South Africa’s women’s football competition.

“It is about time that CAF revisited this thingof qualifying for the World Cup by reaching the semi-finals of WAFCON. I knowthat as we were growing up,it is something we got used to, eveninjunior tournaments,” said Baloyi inanexclusive interview withIOL Sport.

He argued that such a system might be acceptable in youth competitions, but should no longer apply to the senior women’s game.

“When you do it in junior tournamentsit’sunderstandable, but I think it is about time that CAFchangeditfor the ladies. That is anotherthing womenare not playing enoughmatches. It would do thema lot of goodto have qualifiers strictly for the World Cup.

“Qualifying viaWAFCONmeansthey areplaying two tournaments in one. That makes it so stressful forthem (the players),becausehere you are trying to win thistournament,but in your head, you are thinking about qualifying for the next and biggest tournament.”

Baloyi said the issue was closely linked to the lack of fully professional women’s leagues in Africa. Although the Hollywoodbets Super League is regarded as one of the best-run women’s competitions on the continent, he said it remains semi-professional.

“We understand that we are still short ofaprofessional women’s league.In South Africa, we havetheHollywoodbets Super League, and it is one of thebest-runwomen’s leaguesonthe continent,yetit remains semi-pro; it is not professional,” cried Baloyi.

He added that fewer than five professional or semi-professional leagues operate across the continent, leaving CAF with the major task of developing domestic competitions before the wider women’s game can progress.

“We have a problem because around the continentthere are fewer thanfiveprofessional(or semi-professional) leagues. So yes, when we say all thesethings,we have to be mindful that therearenot enough. The biggest challenge thatCAFhas when it comes towomen’sfootball is that they have to develop theleagues.

“That’sthe only way thatwomen’sfootball willimprove theonly way that women’s football willgetmuch better.”

Baloyi also said greater responsibility rested with the players and the people managing their careers. He pointed to Banyana Banyana’s success at WAFCON, when they won the tournament in 2022, followed by their strong performance at the World Cup, but suggested that momentum was not maintained afterwards.

“We also have to speak about the people whomanagethese players.We’veseen Banyana Banyana do well atWAFCON(winning in 2022) and going on to do well in the World Cup, but after that, things just went back to normal,” said Baloyi.

He believes modern players have more opportunities than previous generations to build their own public profiles and attract commercial backing.

“Thisextendsto the players themselves; they have to understandthatthey have to brand themselves. Today, marketing and brandinghavechanged so much from when we were playing. Now, they can actually package themselves to be attractive to corporates and sponsors.

“It is unfortunate that they were not able to package themselvesproperlywhen they wonWAFCONand went on to the World Cup.”