Staff Reporter
Sports Minister Gayton McKenzie has approved R3 million in emergency funding to cover the national men’s and women’s hockey teams’ participation in next month’s FIH Hockey World Cup, after players faced paying tens of thousands of rand to represent the country.
The Department of Sport, Arts and Culture said on Thursday the money would address a funding shortfall at the South African Hockey Association and ensure that both teams were fully funded for the tournament in Belgium and the Netherlands.
The World Cup is scheduled to run from 15 to 30 August.
“It cannot be right that athletes who have earned that place on the world stage through years of sacrifice are then asked to fund their own participation,” McKenzie said in a statement.
“Representing your country is a national honour and a national responsibility. It should never be a personal financial burden.”
The department said the money would be transferred once a formal funding agreement had been concluded and SA Hockey had complied with governance, financial management and reporting requirements.
SA Hockey must submit a report explaining how the funding shortfall arose, account fully for the use of the R3 million and produce a financial turnaround plan aimed at strengthening its governance and financial sustainability before future international tournaments.
The funding follows growing public criticism of the financial burden placed on national hockey players. Women’s national team player Onthatile Zulu said players were expected to contribute towards flights and cover costs including accommodation, meals, local transport and medical or recovery expenses, leaving each player with a bill of more than R68,000.
Zulu raised the issue amid controversy over the department’s expenditure of nearly R31 million on a delegation and associated programmes for the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
The funding dispute has overshadowed preparations for a tournament that South Africa’s teams qualified for by winning their respective African Cup of Nations titles in Egypt in October 2025.
The women defeated Ghana 4-0 to claim an eighth consecutive continental title, while the men beat hosts Egypt after topping the round-robin standings.
The women have also been playing a four-match series against Namibia as part of their final World Cup preparations.
McKenzie said the intervention was intended solely to safeguard South Africa’s participation in the World Cup and should not be interpreted as a permanent government commitment to cover financial or operational shortfalls at national sporting federations.
The department said it was continuing to engage national federations about strengthening governance and financial resilience to prevent similar funding crises before major international competitions.
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