Ajax left red-faced after their feeble excuse
he South African Football Assocciation (Safa) should be commended for their swift response to Ajax Cape Town’s failed attempt to pull out of the Caf Confederation Cup. So here’s what went down… On Thursday last week, the Urban Warriors released a statement that had the word “regrettably” in the opening line as if they were doing someone a favour, stating their withdrawal from the competition. They had claimed they had been unable to secure the “safety of their players” ahead of a preliminary round match in Dundo, Angola against Segrada Esperanca. Ajax also said that they had received no word from their hosts on their travel arrangements when they landed in Angola.
Their reasons for pulling out were so lame that the Angolan Football Federation released a statement a few hours later basically accusing Ajax of being crybabies. In fact, a statement laced with all sorts of sarcasm read: “Every day we hear new stories from this team, next thing we know they will tell us that the region does not exist.”
Roger de Sa, who had travelled extensively throughout the continent with Orlando Pirates while he has still the mentor and led Bucs to the final of the Champions League final in 2013 when they lost to Al-Ahly, found himself in a precarious position after his 3-1 victory over SuperSport United last weekend having to defend the Ajax for pulling out of the continental showpiece.
Then Safa heard the news of Ajax’s intentions and they were livid, called them into a meeting first thing on Monday morning and laid down the law. They even threatened to pull Ajax out of the Premier Soccer League if they persisted with their intentions. Safa was not only setting a precedent, they also appeared to be showing their seriousness in making sure that South African teams penetrate the continent through the various Caf competitions.
Ajax should take a leaf out of Pirates’ unrelenting hunger to be the best on the continent. Pirates had committed to succeed come hell or high water. One instance that comes to mind is when they had to travel to Egypt last year amid a ban on local fans due to stadium violence and the tense political situation at the time, but they managed to progress to the semifinals of the Caf Champions League after a 4-3 victory over AlAhly.
Talk has been that Ajax’s lack of enthusiasm to head into Africa has been a subject for discussion at the club for months now. But be it as may, their withdrawal would have had dire repercussions and there was no better way for Safa to deal with the matter.
All that’s left is for Ajax to give it their best shot in the name of football.