The 2023 Women’s World Cup in Australia and New Zealand next year will see Zambia and South Africa participate with big hopes hinged on their performance.



BY NICK SAID



If there is one thing the coaches of South Africa and Zambia are in agreement on, it is that the hard work starts now as they prepare for the 2023 Women’s World Cup in Australia and New Zealand next year.



The draw for the 32-team finals competition was held a few weeks ago, and has not been particularly kind to the two southern African nations.



Debutants Zambia have been paired with Spain, Japan and Costa Rica in Group C, no easy task, but coach Bruce Mwape knows that however they do, the symbolism of seeing the Copper Queens on the global stage is perhaps the important thing.



“There are no easy teams in women’s football at the moment,” Mwape says. “For us, it’s just important to be there, especially as this is our first time.



“The whole country is behind us, supporting the team, and our achievements recently show that there has been a lot of improvement in Zambian football.”



He is correct. The Zambian national side won their first COSAFA senior title in 2022, while the country’s top club Green Buffaloes won the COSAFA Women’s Champions League as well.



These are all big steps forward for the game in Zambia and a major reason why they find themselves at the World Cup too.



Mwape has certainly improved their performance drastically, as has forward Barbra Banda, who was a star of the Olympic Games in Tokyo last year and could have a huge impact at the World Cup.



For South Africa, this competition will be second time round after they had their maiden World Cup qualification in France in 2019.



The core of that group remains in place and as recently-crowned African champions, there will be much expectation that they get out of their pool.



But the draw has not been kind, they face top sides Sweden, Italy and Argentina, with certainly the first two formidable foes. Coach Des Ellis is putting on a brave face.



“I think it’s a reasonable draw,” she said. “We’ve played Sweden before but we haven’t met Italy and Argentina. My feeling is that it could have been tougher.



“Now the planning and preparation starts, making sure the players have as much information as they can.”



The World Cup will be staged from July 20 to August 20, with South Africa canvassing hard to be the hosts of the 2027 tournament. The women’s competition has never been held on the African continent before.

FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup Qualifier: South Africa v Ethiopia

Big Steps Forward For Women’s Football In These Southern African Nations

The lure of judo is odd as it is an incredibly painful sport but South African Judoka Michaela Whitebooi has found gold medal success, and is looking forward to the Paris Olympic Games in 2024.



By Nick Said



MICHAELA WHITEBOOI’S GOLD MEDAL AT the 2022 Commonwealth Games was a reward for years of pain and toil on the judo mat, but she is already thinking of her next goal at the Paris Olympic Games in 2024.



Whitebooi won gold in the 48-kilogram category, but despite



her diminutive size, is a born fighter who had to make up for the disappointment of a first round exit at the Tokyo Olympics last year.



Raised in Booysen Park in Gqeberha, South Africa, she started judo at the age of 10 after a friend invited her to training, and won a place at the TuksSport High School in Pretoria, the country’s capital.



“I was 14 years old and my mom traveled with me, but then had to leave a few days before the school opened,” Whitebooi tells FORBES AFRICA from her training base in Budapest.



“That was devastating for me, I was crying the whole time. I honestly can’t tell you how I survived, though the next year two or three of my friends came, including one boy from my judo club [in Gqeberha].



“So that made it easier, I had people that were familiar to me and I could hang around them. The first year I was so alone.”



Whitebooi says the lure of judo is odd as it is an incredibly painful sport.



“I don’t know what it really is. It is really painful falling and you know when you go to training you are going to feel that pain. But the judo mat also makes you feel you are in a happy place.”



She is trained by Bulgarian Nikola Filipov, who has helped to shape her career, even if first impressions were not promising.



“He was my coach at the TuksSport High School, so I have been with him since 2010,” she explains. “I met him the first day there. It was quite scary, he is a rough guy with a hard face. And he was looking at me like, ‘are you really a judo player, you are so tiny?’



“When he was told that I was there at the school for judo, he started laughing at me! But from that time we grew a strong relationship. It’s a powerful team.”



Whitebooi found gold medal success at the All-Africa Games, but had a stroke of bad luck when she was drawn against the reigning Olympic champion Paula Pareto in the first round in Tokyo and lost.



“I had Covid-19 in March 2021 and didn’t think I would go to the Olympics because I missed out on qualifying competitions. I was not scared to fight her and I learned a lot in those few minutes I was on the mat.”



Whitebooi took that experience into the Commonwealth Games and beat Shushila Likmabam in the final.



“I was very confident about the Commonwealth Games and thought Ihadagoodchancetobeonthe podium. I pushed myself as much as I could, there was a big shift in my mind and I really believed in myself.”



She says Paris 2024 will likely be her last major competition and, having thought about quitting after Tokyo, is putting all her efforts into going out on a high.



“I’ve put a lot of years into judo and after Tokyo I had to really think about whether I wanted to come back for another four years, rather than a life I could have outside [the sport] and make more money and build a family,” she says.



“Paris 2024 will probably be where I end my competitive judo. I will always want to give back to the sport and help the younger generation. But there is also a point where your body tells you that you must give up because I’m crying every single day!”



As for life after the sport, she is well set and says she is “very much looking forward” to building a career.



“Since a young age I was very invested in my schoolwork. I made sure my grades were good. My first degree was financial science and then I did my honours in internal auditing. I then did a post- graduate [degree] in entrepreneurship. I can’t wait to see what is possible for me out there.”

2022 Commonwealth Games, Day 4: Judo (Gallo Images)

The Good Fight By An African Judoka 

<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-topline">TOPLINE</h2>



The controversial former boss of FIFA decried the organization awarding the 2022 World Cup to Qatar as a “bad choice” Tuesday, citing human rights issues in the country, adding to a growing chorus of criticism before the tournament kicks off later this month.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">KEY FACTS</h2>



“Qatar is a mistake,” former FIFA president Sepp Blatter&nbsp;<a href="https://www.reuters.com/lifestyle/sports/qatar-is-mistake-says-former-fifa-president-sepp-blatter-2022-11-08/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">told</a>&nbsp;Swiss newspaper&nbsp;Tages-Anzeiger, according to Reuters, saying the Middle Eastern country roughly the same size and population as Connecticut is “too small” for the event, noting the selection did not take “social considerations and human rights” into account, according to Reuters’ translation.



The upcoming World Cup has been a hot-button issue since FIFA selected the host under Blatter’s watch in 2012, chief among the issues Qatar’s treatment of workers constructing stadiums for the event.



Rights groups including&nbsp;<a href="https://www.hrw.org/news/2022/05/03/no-dignity-and-pride-world-cup-labor-abuses" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Human Rights Watch</a>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<a href="https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/campaigns/2016/03/qatar-world-cup-of-shame/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Amnesty International</a>&nbsp;have denounced the ”appalling living conditions” for workers bordering on “modern slavery,” and&nbsp;<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2021/feb/23/revealed-migrant-worker-deaths-qatar-fifa-world-cup-2022" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">thousands of worker deaths</a>have been associated with the massive construction project.



Also causing a stir are the country’s stance on social issues: Homosexuality&nbsp;<a href="https://www.humandignitytrust.org/country-profile/qatar/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">is a crime</a>&nbsp;in Qatar, and women have<a href="https://www.hrw.org/world-report/2021/country-chapters/qatar" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">&nbsp;limited rights</a>, needing a male guardian’s approval to drive or leave the country.



Though organizers&nbsp;<a href="https://sports.yahoo.com/at-qatars-world-cup-lgbtq-fans-are-supposedly-welcome-but-still-afraid-163049856.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">have assured</a>&nbsp;LGBT fans they won’t face discrimination, the outcry escalated Monday after a Qatari World Cup ambassador&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/world-cup-entertainment-soccer-sports-qatar-ed44b144cd5f1373a6d09efd7f979d0f?utm_source=homepage&amp;utm_medium=TopNews&amp;utm_campaign=position_10" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">said</a>&nbsp;gay people have “damage in the mind.”



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">KEY BACKGROUND</h2>



Drama has also followed this World Cup inside of the stadium: This will be the first such tournament to take place in winter due to Qatar’s extreme summer heat, and the fan experience will be modified as well – public drunkenness is a crime in the country, and World Cup venues&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cbssports.com/soccer/news/2022-world-cup-in-qatar-to-have-sobering-up-areas-for-drunken-fans/#:~:text=However%2C%20the%20nation%20has%20relaxed,be%20released%20with%20a%20warning." target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">will feature</a>areas for inebriated fans to sober up to avoid jail time.&nbsp;FIFA selected Qatar to host this year’s World Cup 10 years ago under the watch of Blatter, who was banned from FIFA in 2015 after the Department of Justice&nbsp;<a href="https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/nine-fifa-officials-and-five-corporate-executives-indicted-racketeering-conspiracy-and" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">went public</a>with allegations of widespread corruption at the organization. Last year, U.S. prosecutors&nbsp;<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/06/sports/soccer/qatar-and-russia-bribery-world-cup-fifa.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">accused</a>&nbsp;FIFA officials of accepting bribes to award Qatar the tournament.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">CHIEF CRITIC</h2>



“Qatar’s reforms are too little, too late and have major gaps,” Minky Worden, Human Rights Watch’s director of global initiatives, said in a statement last week about the country’s recent efforts to ease concerns about worker conditions.&nbsp;



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">FURTHER READING</h2>



<a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/why-qatar-is-a-controversial-venue-for-2022-world-cup/2022/10/19/d5f11b50-4fa2-11ed-ada8-04e6e6bf8b19_story.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Why Qatar Is a Controversial Venue for 2022 World Cup</a>&nbsp;(Washington Post)



<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/samindrakunti/2022/10/31/qatar-world-cup-comes-with-human-rights-abuses-and-controversy/?sh=7b51ec851657">Qatar World Cup Comes With Human Rights Abuses And Controversy</a>(Forbes)



By Derek Saul, Forbes Staff

Iranian football team introduces World Cup Jersey

‘Qatar Is A Mistake,’ Ex-FIFA Head Says: Here’s Why The 2022 World Cup Is Mired In Controversy￼

The biggest headache for South Africa coach Mark Boucher ahead of the Twenty20 World Cup in Australia starting in October is not who to bring into his squad, but rather who to leave out.



<blockquote class="wp-block-quote is-style-large is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow">“We did give a couple of opportunities to guys to see what they can do, and they came good, which is great for us to see.”</blockquote>



Boucher’s side has won 18 of their last 21 completed internationals in the shortest format, a remarkable run of consistency, and are arguably the form side going into the global competition.



They must still travel to India for three games in late September, which could shape their thinking further, but Boucher admits there will be some very tough calls ahead of the World Cup.



&#8220;It&#8217;s a good headache to have when there are so many guys vying for positions with a World Cup around the corner,&#8221; he said. &#8220;There is great competition in the squad at the moment and in quite a few positions as well.



“We did give a couple of opportunities to guys to see what they can do, and they came good, which is great for us to see. It&#8217;s a very healthy place for South African cricket to be in.&#8221;



The squad that won the recent series in England and against Ireland has a settled look to it, but whiteball captain Temba Bavuma must still return from injury, while premier fast bowler Kagiso Rabada is another to be added to the list.



The emergence of a young batting star from nowhere like Tristan Stubbs is an unexpected gift to the side.



Boucher says that competition and the fear that someone else is ready to take your place is necessary for the team.



&#8220;When you have guys coming in and performing, there is no space for (other) guys to rest. It keeps players challenging for selection, and that can only push them to different heights.”



South Africa have been drawn with a trio of sub-continent sides in Group 2 at the World Cup and will take on India, Pakistan and Bangladesh, as well as two qualifiers who must still earn their place at the tournament. 



By Nick Said

England & South Africa Net Sessions

‘A Very Healthy Place For South African Cricket To Be In’: Mark Boucher Ahead Of T20 World Cup

The 20- and 50-over versions of the sport have taken over the global cricket calendar and all the signs are that is set to continue, as that’s where the money lies, experts say.



By NICK SAID



TEST CRICKET IS THE PUREST FORM OF THE sport and the ultimate examination of skill, but there are signs that the five-day game could soon become an afterthought in the annals of history as the limited overs formats take center-stage.



Faster and perhaps better suited to a broader television audience, which in turn appeals to sponsors and advertisers, the 20- and 50-over versions of the sport have taken over the global cricket calendar and all the signs are that is set to continue in the future.



It is less of an issue for the so-called ‘Big Three’ of the world game, India, England and Australia, but as money talks, the trio are likely to play more five-day cricket among themselves and leave the likes of South Africa, Pakistan, West Indies and even current test champions New Zealand out in the increasing cold.



By mid-2022, England had played 24 tests since the start of 2021 and India 19. South Africa had featured in just 12. This is not a snapshot in isolation, a look at the upcoming tours calendar over the next few years suggests this is a situation that will likely worsen.



In two of South Africa’s tests, against Bangladesh in April, they were without six first team players, including their entire first choice pace bowling attack, who had instead opted to play in the Indian Premier League (IPL).



And the reasons are not too difficult to understand.



Players can earn five to 10 times their annual Cricket South Africa contract for eight weeks’ work at the IPL. It is a no-brainer. And that is just one of the lucrative T20 leagues, there are many others.



And here-in lies the crux. The riches that have flowed into the shortest format in the last decade means young cricketers entering the game prioritize that format over test cricket.



We are headed towards a future where young players will look to play only the limited overs stuff and not bother with the first-class game.



“I’ve got a lot of friends where their young boys are just concerned with one day getting an IPL contract,” former South Africa test great Allan Donald tells FORBES AFRICA. “They talk about what it is like being in the IPL. I think the new generation of kids who genuinely love the game see big money and their future in white ball cricket.



“Even those young players now in first class cricket, you hear them talk about it being an opportunity to throw their name into the hat and get a contract at the IPL. You don’t hear them talking much about test cricket.



“There is no doubt about it, in general today’s young kids are driven to make a career out of limited overs cricket rather than tests. It is now a world where technique does not matter and it is just ‘see ball, hit ball’.”



Donald is one of the greatest fast bowlers to have played



the game and was a cornerstone of the South African side that were readmitted to the international game in 1991.



He is currently the bowling coach of Bangladesh but has worked around the world and has seen firsthand the changes in the modern game.



“For me, test cricket is still 100 percent the number one format,” he says. “For the other nations (outside of the Big Three), it is a major worry. It really is a concern for me that other teams are battling to play as much test cricket as the big guys.



“It is also a concern that South Africa are not running parallel with the big dogs in terms of the volume of test cricket that the country used to play. It has dipped significantly.



“But there is no question about it, after speaking to already established players, there are many who would simply rather play the shortened version of the game because that’s where the money lies.



“If I just take Bangladesh, our next test is in five months’ time. But our players should be playing a lot more to develop their skills and gain that experience against the top teams. But there is just so much white ball stuff happening around the world.”



South Africa’s former director of cricket Graeme Smith, the most successful captain in test history, has been beating this drum for some time now.



“I don’t think world cricket wants ( just) three nations competing against each other in 10 years’ time,” Smith says. “How does that benefit the game? It doesn’t. That will then amplify the (T20) leagues and they will just get bigger and bigger.”



In the first decade of the 21st century, South Africa played 108 tests. In the second it was 90. The third will not get near that unless there is a change in thinking.



The West Indies played 25 fewer tests in the second decade compared to the first.



“I’ve thought for a long time that we’re probably going to finish up with the eight major nations playing test cricket,” former Australia test great Ian Chappell told ‘ABC’ last year. “But even now I’m not so sure it’s going to come down to eight because it’s become a pretty expensive exercise and a lot of countries just don’t have the money.



“I’d like to see a fund set up and funded by (limited overs) cricket tournaments where the funds are set aside to help out countries who are struggling to keep going in test cricket.”



South Africa are slated to play eight tests over the next 15 months from August, though that is subject to change.



Three each in England and Australia, and two at home versus the West Indies.



It is not a lot to inspire a new generation.

Conceptual cricket shot

Is Test Cricket Dying? And Where Does That Leave African Players?

Thanks to Saudi Arabia’s bottomless well of petrodollars, LIV Golf has boosted the earnings of the top ten golfers by an estimated $370 million since June, bringing their combined haul to a record $650 million over the last 12 months.



<abbr>T</abbr>he breakaway&nbsp;LIV Golf tour, which is owned by Saudi Arabia’s $620 billion (assets) sovereign wealth fund, is many things. It’s faster than the PGA Tour, with a 54-hole (“LIV” in Roman numerals) format played over three days. It’s louder, with music blaring before tee-off. It’s less frequent, with one-sixth as many events. But mostly it’s richer. LIV Golf is about money. Piles and piles of it.



The government of Saudi Arabia is pumping an estimated $2.4 billion into LIV over the next couple of seasons to get the league off the ground, a big chunk of which is to lure top talent. In total, LIV has boosted the earnings of the ten highest-paid golfers by an estimated $370 million since May, bringing their combined haul to a record $650 million.



“I wanted to be a part of something from the ground up,” says Bryson DeChambeau, who won the U.S. Open in 2020 as a 27-year-old and joined LIV in June. “The resources, the time, the rest and then the enjoyment factor were why I was able to make that jump and wanted to make that jump.”



The downside? No more PGA Tour, no more Players Championships and no more international competition in the Ryder Cup. Like all other PGA Tour defectors, DeChambeau had his membership suspended. But the Saudi-backed golfers should still be able to compete in the Masters and golf’s three other majors, none of which are run by the PGA Tour.



Sure. But it probably helps that he’s likely getting north of $125 million as a guarantee from LIV, half of which Forbes estimates he received upfront. That $62 million payment has propelled DeChambeau to No. 3 among the world’s highest-paid golfers, with total pretax earnings of $86 million over the past 12 months—and ranks him as the 11th-highest-paid athlete on the planet, ahead of Tom Brady.



Two-time major winner Dustin Johnson, who finished tied for sixth at the British Open at St. Andrews this month, did even better than DeChambeau. The 38-year-old pro from South Carolina, who is married to Wayne Gretzky’s daughter Paulina, pocketed $97 million in the last year, including an estimated $62 million signing bonus from LIV in May. The Saudi money makes Johnson the fifth-highest-paid athlete in the world. It was an easy choice, he says: “Play less golf, play for more money—it just made sense.”



The biggest winner of all? Phil Mickelson. With six majors and 45 PGA Tour wins under his belt, the second-most-accomplished golfer of his generation was one of the first to voice support for the new tour. Back in February, he was vilified (and took a subsequent break from playing) after seeming to dismiss Saudi Arabia’s human-rights record in exchange for a “once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to reshape how the PGA Tour operates.” Several sponsors dropped him. But what does he care? LIV more than made up for it, guaranteeing Mickelson an estimated $200 million, half of which he likely got upfront. In all, the 52-year-old pulled in $138 million in the past year, making him the world’s highest-paid athlete in 2022, edging out soccer superstar Lionel Messi (<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/brettknight/2022/05/11/the-worlds-10-highest-paid-athletes-2022/">$130 million</a>).



There are risks. LIV Golf has no major U.S. broadcast partner and barely any event sponsors. The LIV-curious are forced to watch on YouTube. And the tour is incinerating cash. There are limited revenues, and in addition to the enormous signing bonuses and multimillion-dollar-per-event production budgets, LIV has guaranteed $255 million in prize money for 2022. In 2023, that will expand to $405 million for 14 events. “Just like any startup, you’ve got a burn rate, and whether it was, heck, Amazon or Uber or whatever, they’re all burning certain cash up until they reach the point of profitability,” says LIV Golf president and former Tampa Bay Buccaneers executive Atul Khosla.



The PGA Tour isn’t sitting still. In June, it raised the prize purses of eight tournaments by a collective $53.8 million, with the Players Championship rising to $25 million. On the flip side, the PGA Tour’s hard line against giving its members permission to participate in LIV events has triggered a Department of Justice antitrust investigation.



One golfer who refuses to play LIV’s game: Tiger Woods. LIV Golf CEO Greg Norman, known as the Great White Shark during his Hall of Fame playing career, <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2022/06/05/last-attack-greg-norman/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">told the Washington Post</a> that Woods rejected a “mind-blowingly enormous” offer in the “high nine digits” from LIV. That decision knocked Woods, who was once the world’s highest-paid athlete ten years running, into unfamiliar territory—he’s now just fifth among the highest-paid golfers, with total earnings of $68 million. He has no regrets. “I just don’t understand it,” he said ahead of the British Open. “I just don’t see how that move is positive in the long term for a lot of these players.”



<h4 class="has-text-align-center wp-block-heading">#1.&nbsp;$138 mil</h4>



<h2 class="has-text-align-center wp-block-heading">PHIL MICKELSON</h2>



<h4 class="has-text-align-center wp-block-heading">AGE: 52 | ON-COURSE: $102 mil • OFF-COURSE: $36 mil</h4>



<div class="wp-block-image"><figure class="aligncenter size-full"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="594" height="396" src="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/GettyImages-1411839172.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-55789" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/GettyImages-1411839172.jpg 594w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/GettyImages-1411839172-300x200.jpg 300w" sizes="(max-width: 594px) 100vw, 594px" /><figcaption> (Photo by Jonathan Ferrey/LIV Golf via Getty Images)</figcaption></figure></div>



Lefty crossed <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/mattcraig/2022/06/12/billion-dollar-ballers-these-athletes-tiger-woods-lebron-james-federer-messi-ronaldo-mayweather-have-earned-more-than-1-billion-apiece/">$1 billion in career earnings</a> thanks to his LIV deal. One of only a handful of players (including Tiger Woods, Dustin Johnson, Vijay Singh and Tom Watson) to earn a lifetime membership on the PGA Tour, Mickelson had that privilege suspended after he joined LIV.



<h4 class="has-text-align-center wp-block-heading">#2.&nbsp;$97 mil</h4>



<h2 class="has-text-align-center wp-block-heading">DUSTIN JOHNSON</h2>



<h4 class="has-text-align-center wp-block-heading">AGE: 38 | ON-COURSE: $68 mil • OFF-COURSE: $29 mil</h4>



<div class="wp-block-image"><figure class="aligncenter size-full is-resized"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" src="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/GettyImages-1411889458.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-55790" width="469" height="302" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/GettyImages-1411889458.jpg 594w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/GettyImages-1411889458-300x193.jpg 300w" sizes="(max-width: 469px) 100vw, 469px" /><figcaption>(Photo by Charles Laberge/LIV Golf via Getty Images)</figcaption></figure></div>



Now ranked No. 17 in the world, Johnson was the first star to jump to LIV in May, for an estimated $125 million. He cashed out his stake in Bodyarmor for an undisclosed sum in November. Sponsors Adidas and TaylorMade have stuck with him after he resigned from the PGA Tour.



<h4 class="has-text-align-center wp-block-heading">#3.&nbsp;$86 mil</h4>



<h2 class="has-text-align-center wp-block-heading">BRYSON DECHAMBEAU</h2>



<h4 class="has-text-align-center wp-block-heading">AGE:28 | ON-COURSE: $66 mil • OFF-COURSE: $20 mil</h4>



DeChambeau earned $560,000 from his first LIV event in July, nearly triple what he had earned in his seven prior tournaments in 2022.



<h4 class="has-text-align-center wp-block-heading">#4.&nbsp;$69 mil</h4>



<h2 class="has-text-align-center wp-block-heading">BROOKS KOEPKA</h2>



<h4 class="has-text-align-center wp-block-heading">AGE: 32 | ON-COURSE: $53 mil • OFF-COURSE: $16 mil</h4>



Koepka, who has won four majors and nurtures a fierce rivalry with DeChambeau, secured an estimated $100 million guarantee from LIV.



<h4 class="has-text-align-center wp-block-heading">#5.&nbsp;$68 mil</h4>



<h2 class="has-text-align-center wp-block-heading">TIGER WOODS</h2>



<h4 class="has-text-align-center wp-block-heading">AGE: 46 | ON-COURSE: $43,500 • OFF-COURSE: $68 mil</h4>



<div class="wp-block-image"><figure class="aligncenter size-full is-resized"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" src="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/gettyimages-1142682752-594x594.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-40860" width="524" height="349" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/gettyimages-1142682752-594x594.jpg 594w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/gettyimages-1142682752-594x594-300x200.jpg 300w" sizes="(max-width: 524px) 100vw, 524px" /><figcaption> (Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images)</figcaption></figure></div>



<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/mattcraig/2022/06/10/tiger-woods-officially-a-billionaire-no-thanks-to-the-saudis/">Golf’s only billionaire</a>, Woods has no need for Saudi money.



<h4 class="has-text-align-center wp-block-heading">#6.&nbsp;$43 mil</h4>



<h2 class="has-text-align-center wp-block-heading">RORY MCILROY</h2>



<h4 class="has-text-align-center wp-block-heading">AGE: 33 | ON-COURSE: $9 mil • OFF-COURSE: $34 mil</h4>



McIlroy has been vocal in his support of the PGA Tour, <a href="https://www.cbssports.com/golf/news/rory-mcilroy-talks-maintaining-his-love-for-golf-st-andrews-tiger-woods-and-his-softened-liv-golf-stance/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">telling CBS</a> “there’s no room in the golf world for LIV Golf.” It may be paying off. Workday agreed to sponsor the Northern Irishman in February, the same month the software company announced it would not renew its deal with Mickelson.



<h4 class="has-text-align-center wp-block-heading">#7.&nbsp;$42 mil</h4>



<h2 class="has-text-align-center wp-block-heading">SERGIO GARCIA</h2>



<h4 class="has-text-align-center wp-block-heading">AGE: 42 | ON-COURSE: $35 mil • OFF-COURSE: $7 mil</h4>



<div class="wp-block-image"><figure class="aligncenter size-full is-resized"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" src="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/GettyImages-1411845124.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-55791" width="652" height="354" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/GettyImages-1411845124.jpg 1024w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/GettyImages-1411845124-300x163.jpg 300w" sizes="(max-width: 652px) 100vw, 652px" /><figcaption>(Photo by Charles Laberge/LIV Golf via Getty Images)</figcaption></figure></div>



The Spaniard, the 2017 Masters champion, was part of the first wave to join the upstart Saudi tour.



<h4 class="has-text-align-center wp-block-heading">#8.&nbsp;$39 mil</h4>



<h2 class="has-text-align-center wp-block-heading">JORDAN SPIETH</h2>



<h4 class="has-text-align-center wp-block-heading">AGE: 29 | ON-COURSE: $8 mil • OFF-COURSE: $31 mil</h4>



The former world No. 1 reasserted his loyalty to the PGA Tour in July, saying, “Any reports that I am contemplating competing anywhere other than the PGA Tour are categorically untrue.” After signing a new deal, he will remain the face of Under Armour’s golf business through 2029.



<h4 class="has-text-align-center wp-block-heading">#9.&nbsp;$37 mil</h4>



<h2 class="has-text-align-center wp-block-heading">PATRICK REED</h2>



<h4 class="has-text-align-center wp-block-heading">AGE: 31 | ON-COURSE: $34 mil • OFF-COURSE: $3 mil</h4>



Reed starred for years in the Ryder Cup, earning him the nickname “Captain America.” Now ineligible for the biennial Europe vs. United States contest, he’s flying a new flag: The 31-year-old wore the LIV Golf logo on his hat, collar and sleeve at the British Open.



<h4 class="has-text-align-center wp-block-heading">#10.&nbsp;$34 mil</h4>



<h2 class="has-text-align-center wp-block-heading">CHARL SCHWARTZEL</h2>



<h4 class="has-text-align-center wp-block-heading">AGE: 37 | ON-COURSE: $30 mil • OFF-COURSE: $4 mil</h4>



In 2011, Schwartzel won $1.4 million in prize money at the Masters, his first and only major championship win. The South African’s victory at LIV’s inaugural London event in June landed him more than triple that sum.



METHODOLOGY: This year’s list of the world’s highest-paid golfers tracks earnings between July 3, 2021, and July 3, 2022, to coincide with the completion of the PGA Tour’s John Deere Classic and LIV Golf’s Portland Invitational. The on-course earnings figures include prize money and bonuses, as well as upfront payments for signing on with LIV Golf. Based on conversations with a dozen industry sources, Forbes estimates top-tier LIV players received half of their guarantees upfront while lower-tier players received smaller sums in bulk. The off-course earnings figures are an estimate of sponsorship deals, appearance fees and memorabilia and licensing income for the 12 months leading to July 3, 2022, plus cash returns from any businesses in which the athlete has a significant interest. Bonuses from the PGA Tour’s Player Impact Program are included in off-course income. Forbes does not include investment income such as interest payments or dividends but does account for payouts from equity stakes athletes have sold. Forbes does not deduct for taxes or agents’ fees.



By Justin Birnbaum, Forbes Staff Additional reporting by Brett Knight.

Male golfer putting on golf course

The World’s Highest-Paid Golfers 2022: LIV Golf Reshuffles Top Earners And Sends Pay Soaring

Tobi Amusan’s gold at the recent World Athletics Championships was a win not just for Nigeria but for Africa, says the 25-year-old.



For years, Nigerian-born Oluwatobiloba Amusan considered herself as the “almost girl”. She placed fourth at the IAAF World Athletics Championships in Doha in 2019 and fourth again at the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games.



So, when on July 24 this year, she smashed the 100-meter women’s hurdles world record with an outstanding 12.12 seconds in the semi-finals and 12.06 for the finals, the ‘almost girl’ finally bagged a gold medal at the World Athletics Championships in Oregon in the United States becoming the first world champion from Nigeria.



“I thank God for his blessing and for finally giving me the strength to come first place. I feel like this is a win not only for myself but also for Nigeria and Africa,” says Amusan.



She beat former record-holder Kendra Harrison’s 2016 record of 12.20 by 0.8 of a second.



“It was very competitive so the goal was to execute and survive to the finals and I thank God for keeping me healthy throughout the process,” says Amusan to FORBES AFRICA.



The 25-year-old sprinter was born in Ogun State in the Western part of Nigeria. She began her sports career as a soccer player until her coach decided she had a lot more potential for the track.



“I ended up beating all the best people in the team and that’s how I found my calling.”



That calling took her to the University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP) where she held several titles including the 60-meter indoor record, the 200-meter indoor record, the 100-meter hurdles as well as the 200-meter flat record.



In a statement conveyed by the special advisor to the president on media and publicity, Femi Adesina, Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari said on Amusan’s win: “The President joins millions of Nigerians in celebrating this outstanding feat by a compatriot and two-time African Games champion, who in one night stunned the athletics world with her superlative and stellar performance. The President thanks the track superstar for making the Nigerian national anthem resonate again from the international podium, leaving the nation with the excitement and unforgettable memories of tears of joy and triumph; hope and victory; incredulity and belief.”

World Athletics Championships Oregon22 – Day Ten

Nigerian Sprinter On Smashing Records In Stunning Feat At Oregon

In March, Evadnee Le Goff and Anita Musevenzo became the first all-women team to summit the highest mountains in South Africa’s nine provinces. In the rain, in the dark, in the freezing cold on those raw, rugged mountains, the two navigated treacherous terrain but stuck together.



ENDURANCE LESSONS ALWAYS go a long way in business – and in life.



And sometimes, you go beyond the boardrooms to find them.



South Africa’s Anita Musevenzo and Evadnee Le Goff found them on the peaks of the highest mountains in the country’s nine provinces, summitted all in one go.



And yet another high point of the 9 Peaks Challenge?



<div class="wp-block-image"><figure class="alignleft size-large is-resized"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" src="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/20220326_151237-768x1024.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-55660" width="392" height="523" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/20220326_151237-768x1024.jpg 768w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/20220326_151237-225x300.jpg 225w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/20220326_151237-1152x1536.jpg 1152w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/20220326_151237-1536x2048.jpg 1536w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/20220326_151237-scaled.jpg 1920w" sizes="(max-width: 392px) 100vw, 392px" /></figure></div>



They are the first all-female team to do so.



The mountains they summited were: the Iron Crown in Limpopo, De Berg in Mpumalanga, Nooitgedacht in the North West, Toringkop in Gauteng, Mafadi in KwaZulu-Natal, Namahadi in the Free State, KwaDuma in the Eastern Cape, Murch Point in the Northern Cape, and Seweweekspoort in the Western Cape.



Le Goff, an accountant in Johannesburg, has always been a hiker, whereas Musevenzo, a skincare formulator, has been hiking for six years, with a YouTube channel called ‘African Hiker’.



But more challenging than the mountain adventure was the training ahead of it, which included hours in the gym, walks during the week and hikes on the weekends on South Africa’s blessed and most times, tough terrain.



The training was intense.



“Anita and I cut our teeth on wilderness hiking. So all our experience is in dealing with awkward terrain that’s rocky. And you know, every footstep, you’re not sure where you’re landing and it stood us in good stead,” says Le Goff. Musevenzo describes the drama at Mafadi, a peak on the border of South Africa and Lesotho.



They slept on the escarpment because they didn’t get down before dark.



“So we get to the summit at about three o’clock in the afternoon. And now we’re hiking back. All is good. But the sun is setting and the sun sets fast on the mountain. It’s just dark suddenly.”



They came across a cliff they had not seen in the daylight, and the wind started picking up speed, eventually going up to 50 knots. They began hiking towards the pass.



“We arrive at the pass and we look down and it’s pitch black. And so I just thought to myself ‘nope, not happening, not going down there’,” she says.



At this point, Le Goff posits that either they get down the mountain or die of hypothermia. Musevenzo set off as cheerily as one could to find some reeds to settle in for the night and ward off the wind.



They used their backpacks to sleep on the damp grass, share a protein bar and settled down around 10PM. A survival blanket was the only thing they had to keep warm.



They waited for first light, periodically checking on each other, and set off in the morning again.



Together, they traversed the country and up its mountains as everyone else carried on with their daily lives. For them, each day was different as it unfolded new views and vistas about life.



“Some of it was also quite tragic, because there are sections in our country, especially the Eastern Cape, where I was really affected by the poverty and the social problems,” says Le Goff.



The duo also savored some beautiful moments; from taking in the variety of animal footprints on the river beds in the Northern Cape, to the locust swarms, the dusty back roads, as well as the two leopards they spotted.



At sunrise one morning, a kudu ran in front of their car.



Musevenzo says one of the best parts was the friendly community at the Drakensburg and the magical feeling of the whole area.



“We all know that the country is very diverse. But to see it all in one go and just see the change as you go from province to province, and also how the mountain changes even the Drakensberg; there are three provinces where the peak is on the Drakensburg, and all three of those are different,” she explains.



A particularly difficult moment for Le Goff was encountering the chain ladders at Tugela Falls.



<div class="wp-block-image"><figure class="aligncenter size-large is-resized"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" src="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/20220328_084224-1-1024x768.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-55661" width="553" height="415" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/20220328_084224-1-1024x768.jpg 1024w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/20220328_084224-1-300x225.jpg 300w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/20220328_084224-1-768x576.jpg 768w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/20220328_084224-1-1536x1152.jpg 1536w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/20220328_084224-1-2048x1536.jpg 2048w" sizes="(max-width: 553px) 100vw, 553px" /></figure></div>



“There weren’t any moments where I felt overwhelmed. There were one or two, I’d say, going down the chain ladders, in the dark, in the rain, I think it was challenging for Anita as well, because I was definitely very reluctant. I was trying to negotiate my way out of something which was unavoidable. “We had no other way to get off this mountain. And I’m not a huge fan of those chain ladders, because they are really treacherous,” Le Goff says.



Musenvenzo distracted her by telling her stories about her goldfish. She distracted her on the way up by telling her the story of how the tortoise got its shell. 



They took turns looking after each other throughout the journey. One of the most challenging peaks was Seweweekspoort in the Western Cape. It was their last one. It was also one of Le Goff’s most memorable, for the raw ruggedness of the landscape.



“We were already so exhausted, and the terrain is very difficult. By then, we were physically and mentally so drained, it’s just a really rough climb to finish on,” says Le Goff.



“That would be the most challenging one for me too. I did not really enjoy Seweweekspoort. The mountain has teeth, and claws and nails,” adds Musevenzo.



The duo was supported by DecathlonSA, Garmin, Entsika Consulting, forever.fresh.foods and Racefood. After eight days, 22 hours and 42 minutes to complete the entire adventure, the women came home to Johannesburg with sore feet, but with full hearts and memories to last a lifetime – creating history along the way, one tough, treacherous peak at a time.

20220321_133831 2

Through Peaks and Troughs: Meet The First All-Women Team To Summit The Highest Mountains in South Africa’s Nine Provinces

By Nick Said 



The South African women’s cricket team makes a comeback at the 2022 Commonwealth Games for the first time since 1998, and have high hopes of winning gold. We speak to one of the world’s leading batters Laura Wolvaardt. Who else is making it?



THE 2022 COMMONWEALTH GAMES TO BE staged in Birmingham, England from July 28 to August 8 was a missed opportunity for Africa away from the field of competition, but provides the continent’s athletes with the chance to win a prestigious gold medal and enhance their reputations on the global stage.



Durban in South Africa’s sunny KwaZulu-Natal province was initially chosen as the host of the Games in 2015 and set to be the first city in Africa to stage the event.



But when the South African government reportedly failed to provide the financial guarantees required by the organizers, they were stripped of the rights two years later.



And so athletes and fans from over 60 Commonwealth Games Associations will instead head for the English Midlands, including representation for 13 African countries. 



All will be dreaming of gold, not least the South African women’s cricket team as the sport makes a comeback at the Games for the first time since 1998.



On that occasion it was the South African men who took the title in a 50-over competition. This time it is only the women who will compete in the shorter 20-over format.



Fresh from a semifinal place at the recent Women’s Cricket World Cup in New Zealand, South Africa have high hopes of winning gold again, according to one of the world’s leading batters Laura Wolvaardt.



“We had a couple of really tight games in New Zealand but played some good cricket and were obviously very disappointed to lose to England in the semifinals,” Wolvaardt tells FORBES AFRICA.



“The way we played in that game wasn’t a reflection of how well we did throughout the tournament. But in the long run, we’ll learn a lot from the experience.”



Wolvaardt, a stylish top-order batter with one of the best cover drives in the sport – men or women – believes South Africa are well- equipped to compete in the shorter 20-over format.



“Even though it’s a different format, I think most of our squad will stay pretty much the same. If you’re hitting the ball well it [form] will stay with you for the Commonwealth Games,” she says.



“I think we’re clicking well as a team. We have two series before the Games in Ireland and England, so hopefully we can use that time to have a good chat and be 100% ready for the competition.”



Conditions in England are likely to be similar to New Zealand, and that should suit South Africa, according to Wolvaardt.



“New Zealand has apparently the most similar conditions to England, outside of England. That’s a good thing for us and with the series in Ireland and England to come, we won’t have any excuses by the time we go to the Commonwealth Games. We’ll definitely be prepared.”



The Games field reads like a mini-World Cup, with most of the other leading women’s cricket nations present – hosts England, Australia, India, Pakistan and New Zealand.



“Australia are head and shoulders above the competition at the moment. We just need to find a way to bridge the gap between us as soon as we can,” Wolvaardt says.



“But T20 cricket is interesting because anyone can win on a given day with one outstanding individual performance. We have a really good group of senior players who’ve played for quite a long time. So a lot of our players are reaching their prime. That’s very exciting.



“I think for us it’s more the mental side of the game we need to work on.”



AFRICA AT THE COMMONWEALTH GAMES: ALL EYES ARE ON&#8230;



South Africa will also send teams in men’s and women’s hockey, netball, sevens rugby (men and women), as well as participants in the athletics events and swimming, among other disciplines.



Nigeria will be well represented too, especially in the weightlifting competition, including medal prospects Stella Kingsley, Adijat Olarinoye, Rafiatu Folashade Lawal and Joy Ogbonne Eze.



Ghana have qualified for a number of team sports, including hockey (men and women), beach volleyball (women), and they will also be represented in the badminton event.



Kenya will, of course, expect medals in the middle and long distance running events and have chosen three men and three women to compete in the marathon – Philemon Kacheran, Eric Kiptanui, Jonathan Korir, Stella Barsosio, Purity Changwony and Margaret Wangari.



With Ethiopia not at the Games, the Kenyans will feel they have a real chance of making a big impact.



Zambia are surprise qualifiers for the men’s rugby sevens event. They will join South Africa, Kenya and Uganda in the 16-team field, which also includes powerhouses Fiji and New Zealand.



Kgotla Kgaswane will represent Botswana in the men’s 55-kilograme weightlifting event, while teenage sprint sensation Letsile Tebogo is also hoping to be at the Games, fresh from his 100-meter gold medal at the World Junior Championships last year.



The men’s team from The Gambia will compete in the beach volleyball event, while experienced para powerlifter Modou Gamo will also be in Birmingham.



Para powerlifting is one of three sports at the Games for disabled athletes, with wheelchair basketball and table tennis the others.



Malawi will see themselves as outsiders for a medal in netball, though it is a heavyweight field of all the world’s leading teams, while Mauritius have three entrants in the weightlifting competition – Cédric Coret (Men&#8217;s 96kg), Roilya Ranaivosoa (Women&#8217;s 49kg) and Ketty Lent (Women&#8217;s 71kg).



Rwanda will compete in athletics and beach volleyball, and Seychelles will also have two women competing in the weightlifting – Clementina Agricole (59kg) and Romentha Larue (87kg).



Commonwealth Games’ organizers have also announced that e-sports will be included at Birmingham 2022 as a pilot event. Players will compete in Dota 2, eFootball and Rocket League events.

Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games Medal Unveiling – The Roundhouse

AFRICA’S GAME IN BIRMINGHAM: The  Continent at the Commonwealth Games and Who All Eyes Will Be On…

<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-topline">TOPLINE</h2>



Transgender rugby players will be barred from international women’s competitions while officials develop a formal inclusion policy, the sport’s international governing body&nbsp;<a href="https://www.intrl.sport/news/statement-on-transgender-particiption-in-women-s-international-rugby-league/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">announced</a>&nbsp;on Tuesday, the latest federation to ban transgender athletes as the sporting world tries to balance inclusion, fairness and safety.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-key-facts">KEY FACTS</h2>



The International Rugby League (IRL)&nbsp;<a href="https://www.intrl.sport/news/statement-on-transgender-particiption-in-women-s-international-rugby-league/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">said</a>&nbsp;it considered “several relevant developments in world sport” when making the decision, including the International Olympic Committee’s recent guidance that each sport should determine their policies governing the inclusion of transgender athletes.



The ban means trans athletes will be barred from competing in the women’s Rugby World Cup in October.



In explaining its decision, the IRL said it had a duty to balance the right to participate with the “perceived risk to other participants” and the body will undertake further research to finalize its inclusion policy in 2023.



The decision follows a vote on Sunday from FINA, swimming’s global governing body, to&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/annakaplan/2022/06/19/world-swimming-federation-bars-most-transgender-women-from-elite-competitions-but-weighs-open-competition-category/?sh=7860b0db65b9">bar the majority of trans women</a>&nbsp;from competing in elite events and comes amid reports that a number of other sporting federations are considering similar policies.



Lord Sebastian Coe, president of World Athletics, hinted on Monday that track and field could suit and bar trans athletes from women’s competitions, telling the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/athletics/61865789" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">BBC</a>&nbsp;that “biology trumps gender” and “fairness is non-negotiable.”



FIFA, soccer’s international governing body, told&nbsp;<a href="https://www.reuters.com/lifestyle/sports/fifa-world-athletics-review-transgender-rules-after-swimmings-change-2022-06-20/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Reuters</a>&nbsp;it is also reviewing its policies, though would not comment on specifics.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-key-background">KEY BACKGROUND</h2>



The inclusion of trans people, especially trans women, in sport is a divisive and contentious issue that has troubled sporting federations for years. The IOC’s recommendation that individual sports handle the matter themselves means that rugby league and swimming are likely the frontrunners of many new policies. Not all policies will bar trans women from competing and cycling’s international governing body, which also&nbsp;<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2022/jun/16/cyclings-governing-body-sets-stricter-rules-for-transgender-athletes" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">updated guidance</a>&nbsp;this month, tightened its eligibility criteria though did not bar athletes.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-news-peg">NEWS PEG</h2>



Debates over trans inclusion in sport have recently flared in cases of trans success, notably the competition of New Zealand weightlifter Laurel Hubbard, a trans woman, at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games and the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/dereksaul/2022/05/31/we-transition-to-be-happy-lia-thomas-pushes-back-against-detractors-of-transgender-athletes/?sh=bde61f8330c4">success of Lia Thomas</a>, a trans woman and former University of Pennsylvania swimmer, who became the first transgender athlete to win an NCAA Division I individual national title in March.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-tangent">TANGENT</h2>



Critics tend to&nbsp;<a href="https://www.dw.com/en/unfair-advantage-or-more-inclusion-trans-athletes-in-sports/a-57995840" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">argue</a>&nbsp;that trans participation is&nbsp;<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/05/29/us/lia-thomas-women-sports.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">unfair</a>&nbsp;and at the expense of other athletes, with the biological advantages like elevated testosterone levels used to justify excluding competitors from events that fit with their gender identity, even if they have transitioned.&nbsp;<a href="https://www.npr.org/2021/03/18/978716732/wave-of-new-bills-say-trans-athletes-have-an-unfair-edge-what-does-the-science-s" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Scientific</a>&nbsp;research&nbsp;<a href="https://bjsm.bmj.com/content/55/11/577" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">suggests</a>&nbsp;there may be a possible advantage for trans women competing in women’s events, though this is far from&nbsp;<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2019/sep/24/ioc-delays-new-transgender-guidelines-2020-olympics" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">definitive</a>&nbsp;and does not&nbsp;<a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-world-sport-lgbt-trfn-idUSKBN2BG34Q" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">necessarily back</a>&nbsp;barring trans athletes from&nbsp;<a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/61346517" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">competing</a>. Despite the purported advantage trans athletes have, there is scant evidence that trans athletes invariably dominate the sports they compete in. For example, despite nearly two decades of eligibility at the Olympics, the first&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/roberthart/2021/07/30/here-are-the-first-openly-transgender-and-nonbinary-olympians-making-history-in-tokyo/?sh=73779d35a9c8">openly trans athletes qualified&nbsp;</a>for Tokyo 2020. Of these athletes, just one—Canada’s Quinn, a trans nonbinary soccer player—scored a&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/roberthart/2021/08/06/canadas-quinn-makes-history-as-first-openly-transgender-and-nonbinary-athlete-to-win-olympic-medal/?sh=3e77a0e5d61e">medal</a>. Hubbard also competed, as did nonbinary skateboarder Alana Smith. While neither medalled and Quinn won gold, media coverage and commentary was dominated by Hubbard.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-chief-critic">CHIEF CRITIC</h2>



<a href="https://www.athleteally.org/athlete-ally-responds-to-discriminatory-fina-policy/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Activists</a>&nbsp;have&nbsp;<a href="https://time.com/6188583/megan-rapinoe-equal-pay-title-ix-transgender-sports-bans/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">spoken</a>&nbsp;out against the bans as discriminatory and not rooted in science. Joni Madison, the interim president of the Human Rights Campaign,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.hrc.org/press-releases/human-rights-campaign-slams-discriminatory-fina-policy-banning-transgender-swimmers" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">said</a>&nbsp;FINA’s “discriminatory decision is a blatant attack on transgender athletes who have worked to comply with longstanding policies that have allowed them to participate for years without issue.” Madison said the policy was an example of swimming organizations “caving to the avalanche of ill-informed, prejudiced attacks targeted at one particular transgender swimmer” and urged FINA to rethink its decision. The policies are “fueled by&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/lawmakers-unable-to-cite-local-trans-girls-sports-914a982545e943ecc1e265e8c41042e7" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">discrimination, not facts</a>,” the organization added.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-further-reading">FURTHER READING</h2>



<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/annakaplan/2022/06/19/world-swimming-federation-bars-most-transgender-women-from-elite-competitions-but-weighs-open-competition-category/?sh=7860b0db65b9">World Swimming Federation Bars Most Transgender Women From Elite Events—But Weighs ‘Open Competition’ Category</a>&nbsp;(Forbes)



<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/roberthart/2022/02/03/record-numbers-of-openly-lgbtq-athletes-will-compete-at-beijing-2022---including-first-openly-nonbinary-winter-olympian/?sh=5257a2ae125c">Record Numbers Of Openly LGBTQ+ Athletes Will Compete At Beijing 2022 — Including First Openly Nonbinary Winter Olympian</a>&nbsp;(Forbes)



<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/roberthart/2021/07/30/here-are-the-first-openly-transgender-and-nonbinary-olympians-making-history-in-tokyo/?sh=73779d35a9c8">Here Are The First Openly Transgender And Nonbinary Olympians Making History In Tokyo</a>&nbsp;(Forbes)



<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/06/15/magazine/gender-therapy.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">The Battle Over Gender Therapy</a> (NYT)



By Robert Hart, Forbes Staff

Time for rugby

Rugby Is The Latest Sport To Bar Trans Athletes From Competition As Athletics, Soccer Mull Similar Policy

<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-topline">TOPLINE</h2>



The international governing body for swimming voted Sunday to largely restrict transgender athletes from competing in the elite level of women’s swimming, but will consider setting up new “open competition” events, a decision that follows months of controversy and was cast by the organization as a way of balancing inclusion with competitive fairness.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-key-facts">KEY FACTS</h2>



The governing body FINA’s&nbsp;<a href="https://resources.fina.org/fina/document/2022/06/19/525de003-51f4-47d3-8d5a-716dac5f77c7/FINA-INCLUSION-POLICY-AND-APPENDICES-FINAL-.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">new policy</a>&nbsp;bars swimmers who transitioned after age 12, or those who cannot establish they “have not experienced any part of male puberty,” from competing in women’s events.



FINA said in a&nbsp;<a href="https://www.fina.org/news/2649715/press-release-fina-announces-new-policy-on-gender-inclusion" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">statement</a>&nbsp;71.5% percent of the organization’s voting members voted in favor of the new policy, which will take effect on Monday.



FINA President Husain Al-Musallam said in a&nbsp;<a href="https://www.fina.org/news/2649715/press-release-fina-announces-new-policy-on-gender-inclusion" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">statement</a>&nbsp;the federation has to “protect the rights of our athletes to compete, but we also have to protect competitive fairness at our events.”



The federation’s new policy also included proposals for an “open competition” category for athletes who do not meet the criteria for men’s or women’s competitions—a FINA working group plans to discuss how to implement this idea over the next six months.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-crucial-quote">CRUCIAL QUOTE</h2>



James Pearce, a spokesperson for Al-Musallam, told the&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/transgender-swimmers-new-rules-fina-world-governing-body-c17e99d3121fa964336458b57ae266f7" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Associated Press</a>&nbsp;FINA made the decision because some&nbsp;<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/05/29/us/lia-thomas-women-sports.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">scientists concluded</a>&nbsp;a person transitions after the start of puberty, they have an advantage. “[The new policy is]



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-tangent">TANGENT</h2>



Former University of Pennsylvania swimmer Lia Thomas, who was been a central figure in the debate,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/dereksaul/2022/05/31/we-transition-to-be-happy-lia-thomas-pushes-back-against-detractors-of-transgender-athletes/?sh=57f7172330c4">defended her right</a>&nbsp;to compete in women’s sports last month, after she became the first transgender athlete to win an NCAA Division I individual national title in March. Thomas—who&nbsp;<a href="https://www.thedailybeast.com/trans-swimmer-lia-thomas-aims-for-2024-us-olympic-team-trials" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">has said</a>&nbsp;she aspires to swim in the U.S. Olympic trials—told&nbsp;Good Morning America&nbsp;that “trans people don&#8217;t transition for athletics, we transition to be happy.”



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-key-background">KEY BACKGROUND</h2>



FINA’s new policy comes days after the World Professional Association for Transgender Health&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/gender-transition-treatment-guidelines-9dbe54f670a3a0f5f2831c2bf14f9bbb" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">updated its guidelines</a>&nbsp;to lower the minimum recommended age for starting gender hormone treatment from 16 to 14, and set the minimum age for some surgical procedures at 15 or 17—meaning most trans children won’t begin to transition before age 12. While&nbsp;<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/05/29/us/lia-thomas-women-sports.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">research</a>&nbsp;on the performance of transgender athletes is limited, there has been a surge in legislation in the United States barring or preventing transgender athletes from competing in sports events in recent years. Some&nbsp;<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/article/transgender-athlete-ban.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">18 states</a>&nbsp;have passed laws restricting transgender women and girls from participating in school sports teams that align with their gender identity, according to the&nbsp;New York Times. The NCAA, the organization that regulates U.S. college athletics,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.ncaa.org/news/2022/1/19/media-center-board-of-governors-updates-transgender-participation-policy.aspx" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">changed its rules</a>&nbsp;in January to allow individual sports to determine their own eligibility rules for transgender athletes. The NCAA’s previous policy required transgender athletes to have undergone one year of testosterone suppression treatment to compete on a women’s sporting team.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-further-reading">FURTHER READING</h2>



<a href="https://apnews.com/article/gender-transition-treatment-guidelines-9dbe54f670a3a0f5f2831c2bf14f9bbb" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Trans kids&#8217; treatment can start younger, new guidelines say</a>&nbsp;(The Associated Press)



<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/06/15/briefing/transgender-care-experts-divide.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Why Doctors Are Divided Over Gender-Affirming Care for Children</a> (The New York Times)



By Anna Kaplan, Forbes Staff

Female swimmer diving in mid-air

World Swimming Federation Bars Most Transgender Women From Elite Events—But Weighs ‘Open Competition’ Category

<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Topline<a href="https://policies.google.com/privacy" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener"></a></h2>



FIFA on Thursday announced the 16 North American venues that will host games in the 2026 men&#8217;s World Cup, including 11 in the U.S., three in Mexico and two in Canada&#8211;here are the cities where the action in the world&#8217;s biggest sporting event will take place.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-key-facts">KEY FACTS</h2>



FIFA grouped the host cities by region, with Los Angeles, Seattle and the San Francisco Bay area city of Santa Clara holding U.S.-based matches in the West region, while Vancouver in Canada and Guadalajara in Mexico will also serve as host cities.



The Central region consists of venues in Houston, Dallas, Kansas City and Atlanta, as well as Mexico City and Monterrey in Mexico.



In the East, MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey—just outside New York City—will host, along with venues in Philadelphia, Boston, Miami and Toronto.



Five U.S.&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/brianbushard/2022/06/15/which-us-cities-will-host-the-2026-world-cup-fifa-to-announce-10-winners-thursday/?sh=595d0f1e3a07">cities named as finalists</a>&nbsp;were not selected to host games: Baltimore, Cincinnati, Denver, Nashville and Orlando didn’t make the cut, while Edmonton in Canada was also not picked.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-what-we-don-t-know">WHAT WE DON&#8217;T KNOW</h2>



The sites for specific matches, including the opening game and the final, will be announced at a later date.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-big-number">BIG NUMBER</h2>



$90 million-$480 million. That&#8217;s how much host cities can expect to receive in windfall gains from World Cup-related economic activity,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.ussoccer.com/stories/2018/02/hosting-the-2026-fifa-world-cup-could-create-more-than-5-billion-in-economic-activity-for-north-amer" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">according</a>&nbsp;to U.S. Soccer.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-key-background">KEY BACKGROUND</h2>



The 2026 World Cup will be the first tournament ever hosted by three countries, and will feature significant format changes from other recent World Cups. The number of teams competing in the tournament will jump from 32—where it has stood since 1998—to 48, and the opening stage will shift from eight groups of four teams to sixteen groups of three. As with prior World Cups, the top two teams from each group will advance, but they will move into a knockout stage starting with a round of 32 in 2026, instead of a round of 16. The U.S. has hosted the World Cup on one occasion before, in 1994, while Mexico has hosted twice, 1986 and 1970. Canada has never hosted a men&#8217;s World Cup.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-tangent">TANGENT</h2>



The 2022 World Cup takes place in Qatar from November 21-December 18. The U.S. plays its first game on opening day against Wales, followed by matchups&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/nicholasreimann/2022/04/01/us-to-face-england-and-iran-in-return-to-soccer-world-cup/?sh=5aee2f84572e">against England and Iran</a>&nbsp;to close out the group stage.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-further-reading">FURTHER READING</h2>



<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/brianbushard/2022/06/15/which-us-cities-will-host-the-2026-world-cup-fifa-to-announce-10-winners-thursday/?sh=595d0f1e3a07">Which U.S. Cities Will Host The 2026 World Cup? FIFA To Announce 10 Winners Thursday.</a>&nbsp;(Forbes)



<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/nicholasreimann/2022/04/01/us-to-face-england-and-iran-in-return-to-soccer-world-cup/?sh=5aee2f84572e">U.S. To Face England And Iran In Return To Soccer World Cup</a> (Forbes)



By Nicholas Reimann, Forbes Staff

FIFA World Cup 2026 Host City Announcement

These 11 U.S. Cities Will Host 2026 World Cup Games

Only 24, South African footballer Fagrie Lakay has seen a resurgence in his career over the last year, moving to top Egyptian Premier League side Pyramids FC.



By Nick Said



SOUTH AFRICAN FOOTBALLER FAGRIE LAKAY has long spoken about plying his trade outside of the country’s borders, but his move to top Egyptian Premier League side Pyramids FC is certainly a case of the road less traveled.



He is just the fourth South African to play in arguably Africa’s top league, following in the footsteps of trailblazer Phakamani Mahlambi, Gift Links and Percy Tau, who is currently with giants Al Ahly under coach Pitso Mosimane.



Lakay has seen a resurgence in his career over the last 12 months, one that had seemed to be stalled after a succession of failed moves. It is incredible to think he is only 24, but his debut as a professional for Cape Town club Santos at the age of 15 means he has been around almost a decade already.



He is the youngest player to feature in the top two tiers of South African football since accurate records were kept, and is also the youngest ever international for the country having made his Bafana Bafana bow against Ivory Coast in 2014 aged 17 years, six months and one day.



“We had a Dutch coach [Mart Nooij] at the time and my first professional game was a Cape Derby against FC Cape Town,” Lakay tells FORBES AFRICA of his Santos bow.



“I didn’t expect to play. I had come from school [for training] and was having lunch with the coach. And while we were sitting there, he just said, ‘I want to give you the opportunity to play this weekend’.



“I was very excited, and it was such a good feeling and a great experience. As a youngster, once you play that first game you just want to play more and more, and all the time. It kept me hungry.”



And he was even more shocked when handed his senior national team debut a few years later.



“To be honest, I never saw that one coming either! But if I think back now, it is definitely one of my best footballing memories. I had played for the junior national teams but playing for Bafana&#8230; it was just a whole different feeling.



“The whole country is behind you. The feeling is hard to explain. It is one of a kind, and to do it at such a young age was amazing.”



It would be almost seven years to the day before Lakay earned his second cap, against Zimbabwe in November 2021, with his strong club form for Cape Town City not only catching the eye of national team coach Hugo Broos, but a number of overseas teams as well.



There was a time it seemed unlikely he would wear the Bafana jersey again as stints Pretoria-based SuperSport United, Ajax Cape Town and Johannesburg club BidVest Wits provided little evidence that he would fulfil his potential.



“Staying that side [Gauteng] at a young age [18] and not being able to just come home to your parents, that was difficult for a young boy. But as they say, if you want to grow you have to go somewhere else and move away from home,” he says.



“It’s just unfortunate that when I moved there [to SuperSport], maybe the circumstances weren’t right and I didn’t play as much as I would have wanted to. But I learned a lot, I looked up to older guys like Jeremy Brockie and Bradley Grobler in terms of how I wanted to play my game. I used to watch what they did at training and how they got themselves into goal-scoring positions.”



He joined Ajax on loan in the 2017/18 season and they were relegated that year, though he was one of their better performers.



“It was unfortunate that it was the year Ajax got relegated, but for me personally it was a good season. It was something that I needed, the game-time,” he says.



“And I got to work with, in my opinion, one of the greatest coaches we have seen in the PSL in Muhsin Ertuğral. The experience that I gained from working with him was amazing.”



His next spell at Wits was hampered by a broken leg, but things changed for him when he returned from that set-back and Cape Town City brought him back to the Mother City.



“[Coach] Gavin Hunt told me that competition was tight at Wits and they were competing for the league, so the chances of me playing were kind of slim.



“It was not about my ability or anything, but I had been out a long time and only just come back from injury, so it was just in that moment that it would be difficult for me.



“I was quite excited to come back home and play for a quality side. And just getting another opportunity to play.”



It proved the right decision, and his career is in lift-off again, especially with the move to Pyramids, where he hit the ground running with a brace of goals in the CAF Confederation Cup.



“As a player, the more you play and the older you get, you need to learn and improve your game. That is something I have been focusing on,” Lakay says.



“Especially just getting into the box, because at the end of the day if you want to score goals, you need to be in the box. That is what the best strikers in the world do.



“Yes, I am quick and have pace, but I don’t need to use it all the time. If I am in the box at the right time, that is where I will get my goals.&#8221;

CAF Confederation Cup – Quarter Finals – First Leg – Pyramids FC v TP Mazembe

All Work and More Play for South African Footballer.

After her recent gold at the World Cup in Cairo, 20-year-old South African gymnast Caitlin Rooskrantz tells us what it takes to win, despite injuries and setbacks, even as she looks forward to the 2022 Commonwealth Games.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-topline">Topline</h2>



In a recent interview with FORBES AFRICA, South African gymnast Caitlin Rooskrantz discusses sticking landings, receiving support, her proudest moments and setting her sights on the 2022 Commonwealth Games to be held in Birmingham, England, from July 28 to August 8.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Background</h2>



 In 2019, Rooskrantz became the first South African female artistic gymnast to qualify for the Olympics since 2004. She was 17.



She also won her first gold at a World Cup with the uneven bars at the Artistic Gymnastics Challenge event in Hungary the same year.



“And I think that was one of the biggest highlights of my career, winning that gold medal, because it was so unexpected. I went into that competition with my biggest goal to try and get into the final. And that already for me was goal achieved, anything after was just kind of a bonus,” says Rooskrantz.



A random draw is done for the order of gymnastic performances. She wound up being last, an unenviable position.



“It was really intimidating. My biggest goal for the final was just to enjoy it, taking the moment, and I ended up coming first, which was the cherry on top of all of it.”



She participated in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, not winning a medal, but delivering her personal best.



Her favorite event is the uneven bars.



Comprising of vault, floor, beam and uneven bars; artistic gymnastics is a grueling and difficult sport, injury-prone, and with immense repetition behind the scenes. Crowds only see a few minutes of a clean routine at an event.



She dislocated her knee multiple times, eventually tearing a ligament in her ankle from overcompensating.



Her knee was becoming progressively unstable, so eventually, she opted for surgery. It took her nine months to fully recover, and she couldn’t attend the 2018 Commonwealth Games.



“The thing with being a high-level athlete, I was on bed rest for a week, and after, we got back in the gym; even if it was for an hour a day, I would go to gym every day. I was doing upper body strength, I was doing like rehabilitations in physiology and a lot of mental visualizations to try and keep in the game somehow.



“I made the decision that that was not going to be the end of my career. I was not even halfway there yet. So I really made a full recovery. I haven&#8217;t struggled ever since with my knee again, it&#8217;s been good and I haven’t dislocated it.”



She says she wouldn’t be where she is today without the solid support system of her medical team, her family and friends. She says her sport psychologist is important, as the mental side of a physical injury is just as important to heal.



Speaking on the sacrifices to get where she is, Rooskrantz says she would do it all again.



“It&#8217;s a lot, you know, to get to that point that we all want to get to. But I can also definitely say having gone to the Olympics and achieved my lifelong dream, it was all worth it. I would do it again, in a heartbeat, to relive that Olympic dream again.”



Only 20 years old, Rooskrantz landed a gold for uneven bars at the 2022 FIG Artistic Gymnastics World Cup in Cairo, Egypt.



“I think nothing compares to having to stand on the podium on an international stage and hearing your anthem play. It&#8217;s very rare, because gymnastics is not a big sport in South Africa. And we are not usually amongst the top five or 10. That&#8217;s always one of my proudest moments, is standing, hearing the anthem playing, knowing, I did that, myself!”



Rooskrantz is going as an all-round gymnast to the Commonwealth Games in 2022. She says she’s working tirelessly, upgrading her routines to get more difficulty in and become more internationally competitive on uneven bars.



“Because I am capable of it. It&#8217;ll be my first Commonwealth Games. I&#8217;m really excited. I hope that I can really showcase my best routine and I don&#8217;t know more or less what the competition standard is like, but I’ll try my best to challenge for a podium finish,” she concludes, confidently.

Tokyo 2020 Olympics – Previews – Day -1

Raising The Bar: South African Gymnast On Gold And Getting On With The Sport

One of South Africa’s finest women’s footballers of the last two decades, Rhoda Mulaudzi, also a royal princess, had to fight all the way to get to this point in her career – first with her family and then the South African football structure. She is now opening doors for other women to play professionally.



By Nick Said



GROWING UP AS A PRINCESS IN THE Mulaudzi-Mulikiti clan of Venda in South Africa’s Limpopo province, it is expected that young girls will take up their royal duties and give in to their destiny as a member of the regal line.



But Rhoda Mulaudzi chose a different path, instead following her passion to play football despite heavy resistance from within her royal family, who instead wanted her to take up her responsibilities within the clan.



Her decision may have been controversial at home, but it has given South Africa one of its finest women’s footballers of the last two decades, taken Mulaudzi to the FIFA Women’s World Cup, a professional career in Australia and Europe, and much trophy success with Mamelodi Sundowns Ladies.



She recently celebrated winning the inaugural Confederation of African Football Women’s Champions League with Sundowns, a momentous moment for the game in the country.



It is just the latest achievement for the 32-year-old striker, who admits she has had to fight all the way to get to this point of her career – first with her family and then a South African football structure that did not provide many opportunities for young girls when she first started out.



“It was not easy for me,” Mulaudzi tells FORBES AFRICA. “I don’t normally like to talk about it. Coming from a royal family, being a female and wanting to play football. The family&#8230; they wanted me to be something else.



“But I had to fight for it. Fortunately I had the support of my dad, who was a football person. He understood how it felt and he supported me through thick and thin, even though the rest of the family didn’t want to.



“I started playing football when I was five. I would play with my cousins and as time went on I think the family could see that it is what I loved the most.



“I would say they do support me today, even though they would prefer if I was a princess. But I refuse to be that because football is something that I love, it completes my life and my world.”



Mulaudzi says opportunities were scarce for girls when she was starting out in the game and she had the good sense to make sure she completed her tertiary studies.



“In 2004 I started playing in an amateur team in my village [Malonga Village], and then my parents relocated to Gauteng [South African province]. That is when I started playing with the boys in Soweto. From there my coach saw that I had potential and that I could not play with boys forever.



“He took me to Colchester Ladies in Eldorado Park, where I played with [Banyana Banyana teammate] Refiloe Jane.



“At the same time I completed my Matric in 2008 and went to Vaal University of Technology and enrolled for a diploma in Sports Management and a B-Tech [Bachelor of Technology] in Business Administration.”



The lack of opportunities for Mulaudzi growing up may have been stark, but she has done more than most to open doors for other women to play professionally having been one of the pioneering South African players to move abroad.



“I signed my first professional contract at Canberra United in Australia [in 2018]. From there I played in Cyprus at Apollon Ladies, including in the UEFA Women’s Champions League. I also played for Dinamo Minsk in Belarus.



“The Australians were very welcoming. I was the top goalscorer for the team and was voted the Player of the Year by the supporters. Even now they are saying they need me back and I can go there.



“But the problem with Australia is their [football] calendar clashes with our national team commitments, and so you have a situation where both want you to play for them at the same time. That was when we decided to come home, represent the country.”



It was the right decision as Mulaudzi was selected for the 2019 World Cup in France as South Africa made their debut at the global showpiece event.



“The World Cup was amazing,” she says. “It is not easy playing with the ‘big guns’, but we enjoyed ourselves and the experience we got playing there, we are using it now.



“If I look at the majority of the players that are in this Sundowns team, they have been to the World Cup. Our success shows the hard work and experience we acquired from there.”



Mulaudzi hopes the recent CAF Champions League win with Sundowns will inspire young girls to take up the sport and view her success as proof that they can make a career out of the game.



“We did not just do it for ourselves, but also the young ones out there, the next generation so that everyone can recognize that in South Africa we have good players. That will hopefully open the doors for others to get a contract overseas.”



There is another World Cup in Australia and New Zealand in 2023 and Mulaudzi says she has set her sights on being there with Banyana.



“Age is just a number, as long as I can still play and run, that is what matters most. I can still see myself playing overseas again,” she says.



“I am keen on being a coach when I retire. Especially to develop the young ones. The only problem that we have as Africans going overseas is our development.



“We don’t have enough of it at a young age compared to the Europeans. That makes it very hard. My dream is to see me coaching the young ones.”

Category: Sport

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