SA’s corruption reflected in abysmal Bafana

I WATCHED the World Cup qualifying match between South Africa and Senegal and, like the diehard Bafana fans who packed the Peter Mokaba Stadium, I thought our national team would make the home-ground advantage count.

Alas, it was not to be. Up until the first goal, the fans were still hopeful and urged their team on.

But when the second goal went in, the stadium fell silent. All hope was gone.

The familiar spectre stared them in the face: South Africa will not be at soccer’s showpiece in Russia.

In fact, we have never qualified for any World Cup since 2002.

The 2010 World Cup we hosted was a deal done under the table with former disgraced Fifa president Sepp Blatter and his crooked officials.

Someone again tried to get us in through the back door, but the referee in charge was caught for match-fixing and the match against Senegal had to be replayed. Bafana are a national disgrace.

They must hang up their boots.

There must be something seriously wrong with the team.

Changing coaches hasn’t helped.

Even though it was not a wise decision to bring back Stuart Baxter, who had previously failed to get South Africa through, he cannot be the only cause.

The problem could be much deeper within the SA Football Association (Safa).

And it could be political. The whole lot of pot-bellied members of Safa need to be replaced with people dedicated to the game and not to the ANC.

Politics is ruining everything in the country, even sport. It’s a disgrace that the second-biggest economy on the continent has failed to qualify for the World Cup. T MARKANDAN

Silverglen