Should players be prepared to play for their country no matter what?

The South African FA say they want to revise the payments made to players, and only reward them if they win.

But South Africa captain Andre Arendse says players have a right to expect compensation whatever the result, as they do many duties as representatives of their country away from the pitch.

It is hardly the first time the issue of payments has caused a storm in African football.

Cameroon were late arriving at the World Cup because of payment problems, while Nigeria and Liberia both nearly didn't make this year's African Nations Cup because their players were threatening strike action.

Their FAs call them greedy, but the players say they are expected to be figureheads and sacrifice their club for their country.

Should internationals expect payment?

Give it the boys, they deserve it for all there effort and it might encourage the board to play bigger teams like England or Italy.
Warren Nicol, UK but South Africa

Yes, they should. For many African players it means missing club games if they play for their country, which in turn could lead to being dropped from the squad. They should at least get something in return. I would not say give them millions, but just something to make the trip worth doing. It is part of their carreer. Rugby players get paid, why not football?
Jaco Brill, South Africa

I would love to see these rules being applied to African politicians too. No positive development items of alleviating poverty, no salary too.
Fabian Masha, Japan

Like most professional sportmen today, they are overpaid kids who just want a bigger piece of the pie. Give them an incentive to win rather than a fee for just showing up. Players should have pride in playing for their country.
Russell, SA

Football is their means of survival, so why shouldn't they get money for playing in national colours?Though patriotism comes first, here we are talking about Africa, where corrupted Football Association officials deny the players of their entitlements. Some of them travel from very far to represent their national side and lose their place in their club sides due to national assignments, only getting "Thank You" for playing... I guess "The gods must be crazy" to think footballers shouldn't get paid at all.
Oluwashina Okeleji, Nigeria

How can one ask this kind of question, if international players are expected to be paid after they have played a football match for their country. Since the president of a country collects his salary, the Pastor of a church collects his and every other person, why should the players be different. They should be paid, if not for anything but for risking their lives playing for the so called country.
Anderson Emmy Snr, Cote d'Ivoire.

Players should be prepared to play for their countries no matter what, but should also be rewarded especially where they perform well. Take Nigeria for example, where even though generous football lovers donated money to them for qualifying for the World Cup Oliseh and George were excluded from the squad just for asking for this money. Although players should be reasonable for demanding payments and bonuses, African FAs should always honour their promises, they are not FA members for free. Safa, please pay your players.
Ebou Jarju, Gambia

Though representing the country is a great honour, I believe they deserve to be paid. Football for the player is their career. Take for instance every government officer - from the cleaners to the head of state - they are all paid. The players for me are just like office workers whose duty happens to be for some 90 minutes or so, and they deserve to be paid for that. During that particular period anything could happen that could prevent them from playing for the rest of their lives. Now, will the government be there for them then?
Dovi Amouzou, Nigeria

Those less patriotic enough to demand money before their country should just walk. For internationals and locals alike, donning one's country's colours becomes an opportunity to catch the eye of scouts and land yourself a lucrative offer, and that should be the incentive enough for one to die to represent his country.
Sydney, South Africa

Yes obviously they have to be paid, even if they are playing for charity! Their countries must show love to them in a manner that they pay them according to their performances, this will encourage them every time they've been called up to represent their countries. As far as I'm concerned there's nothing for free these days! Their countries must also understand that these players they have got families to take care of, everytime they are on field of play they are actually at work and at the end of the day they must be paid whether it's local or international games.
Jabulani "Beloved" Mkhize, South Africa

Let Safa also work for free then. Appearance fees are just the to cover the inconveniences of the players. Anyway the R20,000 appearance fees were absurd from the beginning. They should rather reduce the money to R10,000 and double the win bonuses to R80,000 and R20,000 for a draw. This is a minimum of course - with the Fifa top twenty opposition the money should be much more than if they play Lesotho. Safa are just comparing struggling South Africans with the multi million dollars earners in Europe which is so unreal. If they feel that is the way to go then they should pay international salaries.
Mamza, Msawawa

Give it to them. The players deserve every dime from the game. Otherwise where does the money go? To the corrupt officials at Safa? Give me a break!
Shaka, South Africa