All longing for a proper end to the season

Under normal circumstances May would have been a big month for us who live for our football. It would have been a month where the boys are separated from men and champions stand out from the rest. It would have been the month where Kaizer Chiefs are crowned Absa Premiership champions...or not – no one knows if Amakhosi would have been able to retain their lead all the way to the end of the PSL season.

And, because of Covid-19, we might never really know. Even if the league resumes, and finishes, it will not be the same anymore because the lengthy break has taken some momentum away.

The excitement that was there in early March cannot be the same now. It has been lost and may never be found again. If the league resumes, it would be for what we in IsiZulu call “ukugcina icala” which translates roughly to doing something just because you have to but without any passion or commitment.

“That thing” that the league had going this season has been lost. The two-month break has eaten that away. I know you might think I am being dramatic because a two-month break happens at the end of every season and when another starts there is hype and anticipation again. But that’s my point exactly. When the season starts there is excitement because it is new, fresh...but this one will just be a continuation. Watching it will be like watching a bad sequel that spoils a great movie.

But it has to happen and hopefully it will be soon. The easing of some of the restrictions of the lockdown gives hope that football

Sibongiseni Gumbi

will also return sooner rather than later although it is likely to be under strict conditions including playing behind closed doors which takes away all the excitement and renders the game dull – much like watching bowls.

Football is a form of entertainment and some players are motivated to excel by the sight of crowds in the stands. They want to hear the roar of that crowd every time they make a great save, or a timely and important tackle or interception, or make a defence-splitting pass, or score an important or spectacular goal. Without the roar, it is not the same. It is not normal.

But these are not normal times, and we may never return to those normal times again. Players and everyone alike have to adapt to new ways. They have to imagine the fans going wild at home, jumping up and hitting their shins against coffee tables as they celebrate.

But in as much as it may be unexciting, we need a proper finish to the league. We hope the remaining games will be played and not for a winner to be declared like in France and Belgium.

It would not be good to hear complaints that Chiefs were unfairly awarded the R15-million winners’ prize when Sundowns, Pirates and Wits still all had a chance to wrestle the title away from Amakhosi.

Wesley Bo

Con

reating a snowball effect in recent years, persistent problems have left the SA Sports Confederation and Olympic Committee (Sascoc) floundering, and if its members don’t react soon, it could result in a collapse of the domestic sports system as we know it.

As a massive umbrella body which governs every sport code in the country, challenges within Sascoc are inevitable, but a failure to deal with many of them has driven the organisation to the verge of an implosion.

In recent years, multiple senior staff members have been sacked, and a split between board members erupted into a war that was a core feature of an independent inquiry into the Olympic body launched by government in 2018.

More recently, the acting president has been suspended, with multiple allegations being fired at the executive for attempting to block nominees for senior board positions at upcoming elections.

In addition, Sascoc’s struggle to secure corporate sponsors has left it relying largely on government and Lotto for funding.

Both avenues have been threatened, with government refusing to release funds to deliver teams to the Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics until the umbrella body meets the recommendations of the ministerial inquiry, while Lotto has warned that further reductions in funding for sport could be imminent.

Perhaps of most concern, the sports ministry’s intervention has left South Africa in danger of being suspended from the Olympic movement, with international bodies restricting government interference in national federations.

To be fair, Sascoc isn’t completely useless and it has delivered strong teams to major championships in recent years, its most important mandate.

But the power battles which continue to be waged between administrators are rattling the organisation from the top down.

Government may have the power to force Sascoc’s hand in an attempt to clean up the organisation and make it more attractive to sponsors, but the real power lies in the umbrella body’s members.

In this democracy, the votes lie with the national federations in the various codes, and if sweeping changes are to be made at Sascoc, they’re going to have to come from the council.

If not, a shortage of money, an inability to elect stable leadership and a possible international ban could ultimately bring the body crashing to its knees.