‘To hell with Bafana’
Fans explain why they are boycotting national team’s crunch World Cup qualifier “I would not go even if they charged R10”
To hell with Bafana Bafana!
This is clearly the message from some soccer fans on why they have shunned the national team ahead of the make-orbreak 2018 World Cup qualifier against Burkina Faso at FNB Stadium on Saturday.
And this explains why ticket sales are moving slow, prompting Stadium Management SA to slash the ordinary ticket price from R100 to R50.
Following widespread reports that “only 300 tickets” were sold by Tuesday, Sowetan hit the streets yesterday to hear from the paying customer – the fans.
Stadium Management SA has, however, said the 300 tickets sold were hospitality passes while confirming that about 15 000 tickets had been purchased. Hector Monama, 29, a petrol attendant from Soweto, said: “I do have a ticket but I am not prepared to go to the game.
“I would rather spend that money on other things. I was very angry when we lost back to back to Cape Verde.
“I did not understand the selection, especially Andile Jali, why was he not starting? I have lost faith in our coach.”
Danny Metlhape, 26, a cashier from Tembisa, said: “I am not going to the game because it is a useless game.
“Bafana are the perennial disappointers, so why should I go there and hurt my feelings?
Even if the ticket was costing R10, I would not have bought it anyway. I will not even watch it on television.”
Self-employed Mafa Mnisi,
43, from Ennerdale, said: “I am staying very close to the FNB Stadium, but I am not attending the game.
“It is not that I do not have money, but I am not happy about Safa [South African Football Association].
“Had they not fired Shakes Mashaba, maybe I would be going. Stuart Baxter is not the right man to qualify us for the World Cup.”
Mncedisi Sisilane, 32, a data capturer from Soweto, said: “Cape Verde is the easiest team in our group and we lost twice against them, which will make it difficult to win against Burkina Faso. I am not going to waste my money on Bafana again. I used to go and watch all of their games before, but now am no longer interested. I will wait for the Absa Premiership [games to resume].”
Sihle Ngutshane, 38, a police officer from East Rand, said: “There is nothing that is inspiring me to go to the stadium. They must just give away all the tickets to school pupils because we as soccer fans are not interested.
“Our players are not committed and they are just playing for the sake of it, no passion at all.”
The seeming lack of interest in Saturday’s World Cup qualifier between Bafana Bafana and Burkina Faso at FNB Stadium is a big setback for the organisers, who will fork out in the region of R5-million to stage the make-or-break fixture for South Africa.
Stadium Management SA (SMSA), which manages the 90 000-capacity arena, has been forced to lower some of its targets with the game fast approaching.
Although it was widely reported that only 300 tickets were sold by Tuesday, SMSA chief executive Jaques Grobbelaar said “it was in fact the number of hospitality tickets”.
“Tickets are selling slow. We were planning on 40 000 [fans] but we hope to get 20 000. We didn’t look at it as a medium-attended but a capacity-attended [game]. We are using the Bafana game to plan for the Soweto derby on October 21,” Grobbelaar told Sowetan yesterday.
Two people died at the last Soweto derby at FNB Stadium in July and Saturday’s fixture would have put some logistics to test to avoid a repeat of the tragedy that befell the Carling Cup clash between Kaizer Chiefs and Orlando Pirates.
“We are sitting on 15 000 that have already been sold. We as Stadium Management will subsidise tickets from R100 to R50. Those who have already bought tickets [for R100] can redeem their stubs for a beer – one 500ml of beer,” he added.
Grobbelaar conceded that the business would take a knock.
“We have built relations with football and sometimes I am prepared to lose a bit and make some at a later stage. The costs are running into millions,” he said, without divulging the exact figure.
Safa chief executive Dennis Mumble recently revealed that “it’s a minimum of R5-million that we spend to put a single Bafana match together” when he was counting the losses of staging the now nullified November qualifier against Senegal at the Peter Mokaba Stadium in Polokwane.
When asked if this was what possibly went into organising Saturday’s game, Grobbelaar said “yes, more or less”.
He also joined the chorus of Bafana players pleading for support from the people, who are clearly despondent after back-to-back defeats to Cape Verde last month.