Mbalula is way offside

SO THE minister of the soundbite was at it again this week, shooting from the hip with little consideration of the consequences.

We agree that Bafana Bafana have for years now been a total and utter disgrace to the nation, but the torrent of verbal abuse directed at them by Minister of Sports Fikile Mbalula this week was a tad unfair.

For the record, Bafana failed yet again to qualify out of the preliminary rounds of a tournament hosted by South Africa. Remember, we hold the dubious honour of being the first host nation to fail to qualify for the second round of a World Cup.

This time the almost treasonous offence was committed in a competition many had dismissed as little more than a Sunday afternoon kick-about that our “superior ” local players would hardly break a sweat to win, the African Nations Championships (Chan).

Maybe the very nature of Chan – it’s a contest of national teams of home-based players – ensures that it’s not taken seriously by many.

Therefore, little was made of Bafana ’ s lackadaisical “preparations” for the tournament. Some clubs refused to release players to coach Gordon Igesund, while others dilly-dallied.

The results were there for all to see. Bafana fumbled their way past minnows Mozambique in a 3-1 win brought about by poor refereeing (the penalty they scored to equalise should never have been).

In the 1-1 draw with Mali they again got a little help from the whistle when a blatant foul by the Bafana goalkeeper went unpunished. The penalty they got was also a little fortunate.

Clearly the team was in no shape or form to trouble any serious opposition and duly got knocked out.

If the 2010 World Cup firstround exit was an embarrassment, this was a humiliation of the highest order and the nation was angry, and rightly so.

But this being an election year the minister seemingly could not resist riding the populist wave for all that it’s worth, hence the verbal missiles hurled Bafana ’ s way. But it was uncalled for. Instead of his comical rant, Mbalula should have known better and raised whatever issues he had in a dignified manner instead of the laughable suggestion that Bafana need a new nickname to succeed.

For a minister to tear into one of the players, Moeneeb Josephs, like that while laying the blame squarely on the team is unforgivable.

Mr Minister, how about using your loudhailer to call for a probe into the mess that is local football? How about holding the real culprits – administrators – accountable for the quagmire in which Bafana have sunk?