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Govt to 'nationalise' Bafana?
11/03/2008 22:31 - (SA)
Pieter du Toit , Beeld
Cape Town - The soccer bosses are not yet convinced of the idea, but if Sports and Recreation Minister Makhenkesi Stofile has his way, the government will "nationalise" Bafana Bafana so that the team won't embarrass the country in 2010.
Stofile told an an excited parliamentary portfolio committee on sport that the government would do everything in its power to prevent Bafana Bafana from doing worse than other teams did when they hosted the soccer World Cup Tournament.
"We'll contract the players and tell the coach, 'Here, work with them'.
"They won't play for their clubs for two years and will be preparing only for the World Cup soccer tournament.
"But the soccer bosses don't support this idea yet," Stofile said.
"We have to prevent them from embarrassing us."
Upon enquiry he explained that the only motivation for this kind of plan is to ensure that national interests are being served, and that soccer players who are only in it for the money and who do not care about representing the country, will not turn the 2010 tournament into an embarrassment.
According to him the initial idea is to withdraw the country's top players from their respective clubs and leagues and to put them together in a group of 52 or 54.
The government will pay them a monthly allowance to ensure their expenses are covered and they will only play practice games against local teams.
"The suggestion is being discussed with the South African Football Association (Safa) and we expect feedback shortly." He admitted, however, that he didn't think Fifa boss Sepp Blatter would be keen on the idea.
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Rugby
