Safa guilty of fiddling while Bafana burns

Sy Lerman

Ever heard of the time-worn maxim of Nero fiddling while Rome burned?

Well, right now it would not be amiss to suggest that South African football’s controlling body, Safa, are doing a fair imitation of the ancient emperor’s bungling in regard to their handling of organising vital Africa Cup of Nations warm-up fixtures for Bafana Bafana this month during one of the rare periods that Fifa sanctions such international friendlies.

And, not surprisingly, coach Stuart Baxter has not minced his words and declared that a gener- al wake-up call is required in the portals of Safa if Bafana are to emerge from the fires of decline that have pegged them to a 77th world ranking and failure to qualify for the World Cup since 2002 – albeit making one appearance as the host nation in 2010 and becoming the only home side to be eliminated in the opening round.

Baxter (right) had been optimistic about Safa securing a place in one of the warm-up tournaments being arranged by teams participating in this year’s World Cup that would have been ideal as preparation and team-building for the Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers later this year.

But instead of the varied fresh opponents the Bafana coach had sought, Safa have, after much delay and dithering, come up with games against Zimbabwe and Zambia.

Not that these nations are incapable of giving Bafana a tough encounter – and even beating them – but it was not the kind of new opposition that Baxter had sought to widen the experience of his players – which he had apparently requested some time back.

Instead, Safa have come up with no adequate explanation as to why they were sleeping on the job and offered an inappropriate release again praising president Danny Jordaan for the remarkable job he was doing in attending 30 international functions and meetings in the past 15 months in conjunction with his duties as a senior member of Caf.

Good work the Safa president might have been doing, but what a pity he did not divert some of his attention to organising suitable games for the national team.

Jordaan, for his part, seems likely to be re-elected in what looks suspiciously like a mock presidential poll in two weeks time, while declaring that Baxter has a mandate to ensure a measure of success for Bafana at next year’s Afcon and the 2022 World Cup – something, one imagines, that applies equally to members of Safa’s hapless hierarchy.