More gloom for Bafana
T IS MUD-SLINGING time yet again when it comes to Bafana Bafana, their hammering by Nigeria at the weekend confirming their exit from the African Nations Championship, and inviting a torrent of vitriol from all angles. Minister of Sport Fikile Mbalula was right there on the Bafana-bashing bandwagon yesterday, branding the performance against Nigeria a “disgrace” and the team “a bunch of losers”.
For a sports minister who chooses to spend his time pouring money into lavish awards nights, or into bringing world champion boxers tainted by domestic violence out to this country in much pomp and circumstance, the word “disgrace” might be better turned out while looking in the mirror. Yet, for all the hypocrisy, Mbalula has a point when he says: “We indeed have a crisis of monumental proportions.” Well, he sort of has a point.
South African football was not in “crisis” from yesterday; it has been in that state for over a decade. In that time, the South African Football Association have employed a host of coaches, from Stuart Baxter to Ted Dumitru, to Carlos Alberto Parreira to Pitso Mosimane to the current incumbent, Gordon Igesund. All have, to a greater or lesser extent, failed to make the South African national team more than the sum of its parts. But what, one might ask, is a mechanic to do with rusty parts?
The simple fact is that South Africa are not a footballing force on the African continent any more, and there is no sign of light on the horizon just yet. For whatever reason, whether you blame club development, schools development or national development, South Africa has produced a tiny smattering of top-class players in the past decade. The standard of the game in the Absa Premiership, for all its commercial value, is pathetic.
If nothing else, CHAN – only for players plying their trade in their local leagues – has borne that out. Safa might well sack Igesund after CHAN, though that would be pointless as the next man would have to deal with the same lack of quality. Mbalula was right not to point a finger at the coach. There has been too much of that over the years.
Safa president Danny Jordaan has spoken encouragingly of improving development, but that is firmly a long-haul plan, with the results, even if they come, years away. Right now, more suffering surely looms.
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