Bafana on a slippery slope
2007-09-21 13:05
Tumo Mokone
Does anyone know Cuba play soccer?
Well, the tiny Caribbean island can stand proud and boast, despite holding no fame in football, at least they are ranked above South Africa.
This is not a joke.
According to the latest Fifa rankings released on Wednesday, Cuba is rated 71st while South Africa sit at 73rd, thanks to the floundering form of Bafana Bafana.
This latest low for SA football puts things into perspective; that as a soccer nation we have our backs against the wall - despite the 2010 euphoria.
Bafana Bafana's well-documented flops in recent years nothwithstanding, never have SA been ranked outside the top-60 until April this year, when we hit 61.
In July it was 64, before August's slight improvement, which was back to 61. This week's revelation marked South Africa's lowest position since the December 1993 mark of 95.
Nothing beats statistics to back up the argument that South African soccer is on the decline. What's more shocking is that we still have administrative bungles by the soccer authorities to speed up this fall.
Reversed
This week alone the PSL announced a fixture list for the Knockout Cup, which provides a counter-attraction for Bafana's semi-final fixture in the Cosafa Castle Cup.
SA host Botswana in the semi-finals at Atteridgeville on September 29. On the same weekend three cup fixtures have been confirmed: Ajax v Free State (September 28), Chiefs v Swallows (September 29) and Celtic v Leopards (September 30).
Eleven of the 21 players Carlos Carlos Parreira selected for the Cosafa match play for the six clubs involved in the abovementioned fixtures.
Since the Cosafa Cup is not sanctioned by Fifa, despite its status as the official senior soccer championship for southern Africa, PSL clubs can be expected to hold on to their players in the event of this fixture clash not being reversed.
This will affect other semi-finalists as they also have PSL players. Zambia, for instance, have named six PSL players for their semi-final clash against Mozambique who also have a fair share of players campaigning in the South African league.
It remains to be seen if talks between PSL and Safa will avert the pending ugly situation, wherein Parreira will be forced to chop and change his squad as clubs refuse to release their players.
The PSL is known for its disregard for the Cosafa programme and based on previous experience, I would bet that the league will continue with its plans for the Telkom Cup next week.
In the event of that happening, again, Bafana will have to face Botswana with a weakened team.
The last time this happened, in the first round of last year's Cosafa tournament, Botswana forced a goalless draw before winning on penalties. That was the first time Bafana lost to Botswana, and history is bound to repeat itself in the event of SA facing the Zebras with another weakened team.
For that to happen again, within 12 months, will clearly show that the soccer bosses have learnt nothing from their previous mistakes.
Development
Coincidentally, the new PSL chief executive, Kjetil Siem, also outlined his plans for his job this week.
I noted with interest that the Norwegian cited development as a crucial aspect to the success of the PSL, and the "new rejuvenation of the local game".
Well spoken sir, but actions speak louder than words and we'll be watching your progress.
In case Siem does not know, all his good intentions are bound to come to nought if the PSL board, chaired by the highly influential Irvin Khoza, is not going to be happy with some of his decisions.
His predecessor, Trevor Phillips, had a stronger character and knew how to play the PSL bigwigs, until he was finally allowed to act like a CEO in a true sense of the word.
My advice to Siem is to get in touch with his Safa counterpart, Raymond Hack, as a matter of urgency, to discuss issues affecting the two soccer organisations.
If the looming fixture clash between the PSL's Telkom Cup and the Cosafa Cup does not provide suitable grounds for such talks to be held as soon as today, then the envisaged development and progress of SA football will remain a pipe dream.
So far everything points to 2010 nightmare for South African soccer.
If you think I am a prophet of doom, then look carefully at who is above SA (apart from Cuba) in the latest Fifa rankings... minnows such as Trinidad and Tobago, Panama, Cyprus and Equatorial Guinea.
Need I say more?
Tumo writes exclusively for News24 and Sport24.
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