EVEN after the Bafana Bafana squad was named earlier this week there is still no sense that the host nation for the 2013 Africa Cup of Nations is excited about the tournament. This adds to the gloomy picture about the slow ticket sales in South Africa, which begs the question: “Do South Africans really want to host the Afcon?”
The tournament starts in 16 days from today, and still, the tickets bought for the kickoff match in the 94 000-seater FNB Stadium are still below 50 000. Ticket sales for other matches on the opening weekend do not even deserve a mention at this stage. Two factors relevant to South African psyche can be used to explain this apparent lack of interest in the tournament in this country.
Firstly, the tickets could have been going slowly because people were more concerned about affording their commitments for the festive season. These included travelling to far off countryside for holidays with the people back home. Money is tight and this period of the year people need it to pay for both life’s pleasures and necessities, such as school fees and other financial commitments.
It can therefore be hoped that football fans will start buying tickets once they determine how much they would still have after early January expenses had been taken care of. But time is running out and this anticipated late surge for tickets will be possible only if the desire to buy the tickets is really there among the South Africans.
The interest may be further boosted by how Bafana turn out in the two home friendly matches against Norway on January 8 (Cape Town) and Algeria on January 12 (Orlando). Performances near what is expected at Afcon level could spark mass interest in the tickets. But that could be relevant only to matches involving South Africa. What about the rest?
That brings us to the second factor, which is South African public’s notorious disregard for things African. The attitude extends to soccer, where the local fraternity - from fans, to media and administrators - hold African football in disdain. Locals do not follow the game on the continent as they don’t see the importance of reporting on events affecting the African game, while Safa and PSL officials also do not think highly of developments on the continent.
For example, most football fans do not know that as recently as December Al Ahly of Cairo represented Africa in the Fifa Club World Cup in Japan. Even when the Egyptian giants were crowned African champions for the record seventh time in November, when they edged Esperance of Tunis in the final, in South Africa that weekend the focus was on local issues.
It is this inward looking that has stifled South Africa’s progress in African football. To ignore the game on the continent is folly because no international success by an African team – club or national – will be realized without the continent. A team must be champion here before it can shine elsewhere in the world.
Unlike 1996, when big stars like Abedi Pele played in front of empty stadiums in places like Port Elizabeth, the tournament’s numbers this time could be rescued by the large African immigrant community living in the country. The travelling fans will also come to the rescue, and more are expected to travel than it was the case in Angola (2010) and Gabon/Equatorial Guinea (2012). Already Zambians are said to be showing more interest in the tickets than the host nation. This is not because they are defending champions but because Zambians always travel far to support Chipolopoplo and this time the trip will be shorter.
Nigerians are great travelers as well, and they also have big numbers already in all major cities of South Africa. Ghana ironically begin their campaign in Port Elizabeth, just as they did in 1996, when they attracted just 8 000 fans against Cote d’Ivoire. That proved to be the biggest crowd that city attracted in 1996 as all other matches were extremely poorly attended, notably Algeria v Burkina Faso on January 24, which was watched by 180 people in the EPRU Stadium.
The crowds were no better in other centres, Durban included. In fact one match that attracted the biggest crowd other than those involving SA was at the Free State Stadium, Bloemfontein, where 9 000 saw Zambia drew 0-0 with Algeria on January 14. It was still poor attendance, and locals did not seem to care if Zambian legends such as Kalusha Bwalya, Kenneth Malitoli, Johnson Bwalya and Dennis Lota were in action in their town.
Has this attitude changed over the years? We’ll see when the 2013 Afcon starts in two weeks. But gut feeling says nothing has changed. The verdict: SA is its own worst enemy in African football. If there’s going to be a change of attitude then this is the time; it’s now or never.
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