The SA Football Players Union is outraged by Bafana Bafana's decision to enlist Tony Irish to lead their negotiations with Safa bosses on World Cup bonuses.

Irish is a director at Irish Incorporated Attorneys and is also CEO of the Cricketer's Association of South Africa.

Bafana and Safa have developed a bad habit of having a bonus stand-off before major tournaments. The last square-off was before last year's Confederations Cup, when the players threatened to go on strike four days before the event.

They had demanded a whopping R34-million in incentives for their participation in the tournament.

At the weekend, the Sunday Times reported that Irish had been called on to handle Bafana's bonus negotiations, and yesterday the players' union reacted angrily to the decision.

"We have heard that Bafana players have approached Irish and we cannot allow that," said Hareipha Marumo, a former Platinum Stars player and the president of union.

"Our union is supposed to be representing the players. But we will sit down with those leading the players to discuss this situation."

The Bafana trust will be led by captain Aaron Mokoena, Matthew Booth and MacBeth Sibaya, with Irish leading the negotiations - that is if the union's objection against the lawyer fails.

Marumo said if Bafana continue to press onwards with Irish representing them, then it would be difficult for locally based players to gain their support after the World Cup.

Coach Carlos Alberto Parreira has selected 19 Premier Soccer League players in his squad and they are likely to seek help from the local player's union should they run into any trouble at club level in future.

Booth yesterday said the union had not followed up with the players about the bonus issues and they were prompted to go to Irish by Mokoena.

"Aaron [Mokoena] knows Irish and the decision was purely because we did not want to get caught up in these negotiations ourselves, like we did in the Confederations Cup," he said.

"Whether it was SAFPU or Irish or any union, it was not really the point. We just wanted someone who could negotiate on our behalf so we can concentrate on the World Cup."

Booth said the players were unlikely to be kept in the dark regarding their bonus negotiations.

"We are waiting for all the overseas-based players to arrive and then hopefully it will all be sorted out," he said.