Safa election for no change

Change we can't have. . . well at least for now we won't have someone like Burundi's Lydia Nsekera in the Safa presidential election.

I HEAR the voting for the new Safa president has started in Johannesburg as I start writing this blog in Bethlehem, eastern Free State.

Whoever wins between Danny Jordaan and Mandla Mazibuko will not bring any fundamental changes but retain the status quo of failure the two candidates were in charge of as vice-presidents of outgoing Kirsten Nematandani. The latter does not strike one as a powerful personality who could have blocked the ideas of Jordaan, Mazibuko and other Safa executive figureheads to advance the ideal of a better football nation in South Africa.

Nematandani became president for the sake of breaking the deadlock between Jordaan and Irvin Khoza the last time around, which explains why he was never part of the current race for the top post even though he’s eligible. 

To make matters worse, Nematandani’s election five years ago was declared a massive victory by a lobby which styled itself in the ideal of development and transformation. Mazibuko and Jordaan were the leading figures of this group, and remained comrades in the disaster which became Safa’s management these past five years, until just a few months before today’s election. For them to end  their comradeship does not cancel out the fact that together they were in charge of what I rank the worst period for the management of football in this country.

South Africa has a massive soccer public and it is disconcerting that at the time such a major decision is about to be taken about the sport the mood is of resignation out there. The people are tired of the merry-go-round which does not take our football anywhere. I don’t want to start listing the failures of the past five years on and off the field; they are well known and tedious to read about again, more so the lack of football for the junior national teams.

The public needs to be given hope, so concessions need to be made in the manner the president and the executive of Safa are elected. Failure to do so will foster the notion that those who are involved are self-serving and spend the length of their tenures consolidating their positions, and not serving the game.

Personally, I would like to see it being made possible that upstanding members of society who are not current leaders of Safa at any level be allowed to enter as wildcard candidates. All such candidates should be able to present significant amount of endorsement from football people in and outside Safa structures, and other interested parties. Safa must produce rules and regulations to quantify the amount of that endorsement, and also for the recognition of other interested parties.

The two candidates today have been around and are experienced enough to be in charge. But can’t we get real change, like when Kalusha Bwalya assumed the presidency of the Zambian FA, or when Lydia Nsekera took over the collapsed and banned Burundi FA? Hands up those who do not feel Bwalya’s step up came through like a breath of fresh air, not just for Zambia but African football as a whole. As for Nsekera, a car-repair business owner, her fixing skills in her country since 2004 have since been recognised by Fifa who welcomed her in its executive as the first female member ever.

This is what real change does. Let’s get it in South Africa as well, so that we can progress as accordance to our resources and abilities.     

    

Time SA drops myths about our continent

Vibrant. . . Part of Yaounde's centre shows a busy city getting somewhere. The Cameroonian capital will host Bafana Bafana's next 2014 World Cup qualifier against CAR on Saturday.

THE cancellation of flights anywhere in the world normally inconveniences travelers, and the Afrophobia bile spewed by South Africans on social and electronic media after Bafana Bafana were stranded in Douala, Cameroon, this week was uncalled for.

The extreme views expressed by South African fans on hearing that the SA football team’s connecting flight to the match venue in the capital Yaounde was cancelled demonstrated the fear and hatred my countrymen harbour for the continent. The late cancellation of the scheduled flight could have been for security reasons, and therefore aimed at safeguarding Bafana’s safe passage to their destination. However, without waiting for any clarity, South Africans just concluded the cancellation was intended.

It is sad that in 2013 we still use our misplaced fear and mistrust for fellow Africans ahead of any reason. The Cameroonian carrier concerned, Camair-Co, is notorious for flight cancellations, from when it was launched by state decree in 2006 –  it only took to the air in 2011. So from five-year delays, and habitual cancellations thereafter, regular travelers to Cameroon know you are better off depending on Kenya Airlines, via Nairobi, to land in Yaounde with minor glitches or none.

It’s strange that SA Football Association’s (Safa) travel manager for national teams, Barney Kujane, did not capture this valuable background. But what is more horrific were the heightened emotions by South Africans who smelled a plot to sabotage Bafana. I heard people dismissing possibility of road travel from Douala to Yaounde as a “treacherous” experience laden with dangers from massive potholes, goats and other elements.

Very rich coming from people who have never left the borders of SA, the country with potholes, hijackers and animals on its roads, as seen with the sad death of the assistant coach of the same Bafana Bafana, Thomas Madigage, who died in a road accident involving a stray donkey. Our people carelessly talk of the dangers of “going to Africa” as if we are coming from another continent, and therefore enforcing all the myths about Africa and its people, an attitude which created a fertile ground for xenophobic attacks in South Africa.

I am happy Bafana arrived safely in Yaounde eventually. I am saying safely because that’s what you would wish for one of your own whether they were travelling to New York or Osaka. I am also happy that their trip 240km to Yaounde was by bus, so that our players could properly absorb the sights and sounds of places they visit on the continent. The N3 stretch between Douala and Yaounde is the best road in Cameroon. It is also beautiful country, with hard-working and intelligent people, despite the eccentricity of its undeclared president for life, Paul Biya.

I hope Bafana find the Ahmadou Ahidjo Stadium in the perfect condition it always enjoys when the Indomitable Lions play there. The stadium is named after the founding president of the country, whose home town is Garoua in the north. This is also where Cameroon’s best club and one of Africa’s leading football clubs, Cotonsport, come from.

Cameroon is an unintended host of South Africa after Central African Republic chose its neighbour to the west as the neutral venue for the Group A of Africa’s qualifying competition for the 2014 Brazil World Cup. CAR wasn’t happy choosing Cameroon as they wanted to play the game in Chad, a country with stronger political and cultural ties with the new rulers from the SELEKA coalition. Chad, more than a relatively modern Cameroon, could have unsettled South Africa with its tougher conditions. But Fifa would not allow the match to go there because as recent as last month Chad also had its own internal security issues.

Under normal circumstances Bafana should be enjoying a reasonable amount of support from the locals in Yaounde. There was a period Bafana Bafana packed stadiums on the continent, with people coming to give love to the team from Mandela’s country.

Things have changed. Bafana are not the same team which used to command  respect and admiration, and South Africa now make the news on the continent for black lynch mobs killing fellow Africans in cold blood.  

Overcoming CAR should not be a desperate matter football-speaking. Bafana’s main task in Yaounde is to win hearts again for South Africa, and put the country’s qualifying efforts for Brazil 2014 on track.

That position is perfectly summed up by coach Gordon Igesund after the team’s arrival in Yaounde:  “We don’t want to make any accusations (for the delays). We must just look forward to our mission. At the end of the day we can’t look back, we can’t harp on this matter – life must go on. We are here to do a job and we will do it to the best of our ability.”

Many reasons to travel for Cosafa

Legend . . . Godfrey Chitalu

Lusaka, Ndola, Kabwe and Kitwe have been confirmed as host cities for the Cosafa Cup playing in Zambia from July 6-21. The tournament this year will have Cecafa guests in Kenya and Tanzania.

The two east African nations will join Botswana, Namibia, Lesotho, Swaziland, Mauritius and Seychelles in the group phase.

Hosts Zambia and higher ranked South Africa, Angola, Zimbabwe, Mozambique and Malawi have been given a bye to the knockout round.

All group phase matches which will be played from July 6-11 will be hosted in Lusaka and Kabwe. The two cities will also host matches at the quarterfinal knockout stage which will be played as double headers at Nkoloma (Lusaka) and Godfrey Chitalu (Kabwe) stadiums on July 13 and 14.

Copperbelt towns of Kitwe and Ndola will only host knockout matches from the quarterfinal and semifinal stages, from July 16.

Why I am writing this? Well, apart from the fact draw for the 2013 Cosafa Cup takes place tomorrow (May 3) in Lusaka on Friday, I want to travel to the tournament. This especially so for the matches in Kitwe and Ndola.

The Copperbelt has fabled stories about football in the southern region. Apart from historically providing Zambia with its finest talent since the 1960s, the region has more legends in other spheres of life which one would need to supple in ones lifetime.  

It is for this reason that the trip to Zambia will not be about the beautiful game alone but all that is beautiful about the beauty of that country – and the flow of the most urban river in Africa, the Kafue River. Apart from the copper, this majestic river is like a thread holding the Copperbelt together, linking  its major towns as if it were a highway!

Footballwise, no name rises higher than that of Godfrey Chitalu. Though Kabwe has renamed its main stadium after this legend, Chitalu was however born in the Copperbelt town of Luanshya. It is also the home town of Orlando Pirates striker and Zambian international Collins Mbesuma.

Chitalu holds his Zambian national team scoring record and was voted footballer of the year in that country five times. He was just 45 when he died in the infamous air crash off Gabon in April 27, 1993. He had just been named national coach that year, after retiring from an 11-year spell as a Kabwe Warriors player, which included a highly disputed but widely acclaimed 107 goals in one season in 1972.

This and many other stories about Zambia are already giving me sleepless nights thinking about July.  

Am I going to resign or take unpaid leave to realize the dream? Time will tell, but this is one trip that cannot be missed for all good reasons imaginable!

An inspirational story of Boston

Inspirational. . . The defending champions of the Boston Marathon Wesley Korir (30) and Sharon Jemutai Cherop (29) are a shining example of Kenya never-ending story of domination in distance running, especially the standard marathon (42.2km). On Monday the pair will line up to try defend their titles at the 117th edition of the world’s oldest annual marathon. Both athletes, after a poor start in life back home in Kenya, are living comfortable lives as professional athletes. It will therefore be not so much about the $806,000 (R7m) on offer as the first prize in both the men’s and women’s races, but an extension of a legacy for them as individuals and for Kenya. If Korir doesn’t win, another Kenyan runner will most likely take the men’s race. In the women’s race the upsurge of Ethiopian women is posing a real threat, as seen last week in Paris, when Tadese Tola took the honours. Korir, who is a permanent resident in the US, proved his popularity back home when he was elected as MP to the Kenyan national assembly last month. A biology graduate of University of Louisville, Korir is also a fierce campaigner for food security and anti-poverty programmes. He is known to celebrate finishing races by giving away his post-match sandwich to a homeless person. He and his Canadian wife are the directors of the Kenyan Kids Foundation, to improve education and healthcare in his homeland, more so in his hometown of Kitale.
 Cherop on the other hand took up running to subdue the boredom of rural existence for girls. But even more significant, she was inspired and also encouraged by two of Kenya’s best known runners, Catherine Ndereba (four-time Boston winner) and Evans Rutto, who lived in her area in Marakwet. Whatever happens on Monday, Korir and Cherop have already won their toughest races of life. 

CAR threat to Bafana is mindboggling

Way of life. . . Central African Republic's refugees in neighbouring Cameroon while away time with a game of footie. Conditions in CAR are similar or worse.

Who are Central African Republic? Well, as a country the mysterious nation is never in the news unless there is a coup or rebel activity threatening a regime change. Today (21 March) for example, the only news from CAR came from the statement by the SELEKA rebel group, who said the concessions President Francois Bozize is currently frantically making are too late for his survival in power.

 "All we ask is for him to now leave power," SELEKA spokesman Colonel Sylvain Bordas told international media. "If he does not do so, we will force him out."

The feint memory of CAR by most of the world’s adult population is the chaotic reign from the 1960s to the 1970s by Jean-Bedel Bokassa, who after forcing his way into power, declared himself Emperor Bokassa I. Apart from helping himself from the meager state coffers, Bokassa amused himself with big projects named after himself.

So, in the absence of war talk what happens there when it is “normal”? The usual struggles for survival by the poverty-stricken population, I suppose, because nothing bright about the society ever makes news, and that includes football. Well, on that score I could be mistaken because the Wild Beasts, as CAR national team is nicknamed, are in Africa’s top 10 according to current Fifa rankings – and South Africa is not.

Now that’s another mystery about CAR, because the Beasts have never played in the Africa Cup of Nations, let alone the World Cup. Their effort in qualifying competitions for both events over the decades include: “did not enter”, “withdrew”, “disqualified” or “did not qualify”.   

The Wild Beasts are in Cape Town, to show South Africa why they are ahead of them in both Fifa rankings and the 2014 World Cup qualifying group. This is the biggest test coming Bafana Bafana’s way in recent years because if they fail against a team with so many odds stacked against it, then where on earth are Bafana Bafana going to achieve the kind of success they enjoyed in the now distant past.

There’s no professional league in CAR, and the national stadium in Bangui carries a capacity of just 30 000 – about the size of Rand Stadium in Johannesburg. Its players are spread out in African countries and some in Europe, including captain Foxi Kéthévoama, who is based in Kazakhstan.

It does not matter who the coach or captain of South Africa are, failure against the likes of the Central African Republic will not be justified, given the resources we enjoy. Failure in Cape Town on Saturday will be failure of South African in its entirety. That will mark the death blow to the little that is left of what once was a proud footballing nation.

I am not going to say “come on Bafana, make us proud”. The team knows the basic thing required of them; achieving on that they would have done themselves proud.

   

Mission conquer Africa begins

Winning feeling. . . Thabiso Nkoana scored the only goal as SuperSport United stopped Don Bosco in Lubumbashi, DR Congo on Sunday. Well done Matsatsantsa!

JUST when I was thinking to myself how much the South African soccer public, usually obnoxious towards African football, had learnt from the recently ended Africa Cup of Nations, the chairman of SuperSport United gave some hope.

According to a newspaper report, Mr Khulu Sibiya this week gave United coach Gavin Hunt a revised mandate: forget the (local) league, win the CAF Confederation Cup.  Today Hunt and the boys leave for DR Congo for their CAF fixture with Den Bosco.

Before I dwell on their trip, I want to commend Sibiya for making a clean break from the general attitude by South African club bosses. In his statement, Sibiya asks a simple but crucial question: “If we can’t do well in CAF competitions how can we expect to conquer the world?” He has a point: if Hunt wins the domestic league again, for the fourth time in the last six years, it will be another local victory, again. But should the Pretoria team win the Confederation, their prestige and respect in Africa and internationally will be enhanced.

In the past local clubs contrived to send weakened team to CAF competitions, saving their stronger teams for local competition. In many instances their hand was forced by the league authorities, who refused to postpone domestic fixtures to afford clubs in CAF contests enough time to prepare thoroughly for their Africa assignments. Even this week, in my opinion, the SuperSport United away game to Orlando Pirates on Wednesday Feb 13 should have been postponed so that United could focus on their DRC trip, and Pirates on their Champions League fixture on the weekend.

The combined attitude of the clubs, league, media and the fans in South Africa has conspired to weaken the country’s chances on the continent. The media give CAF competitions scant reports, if they are mentioned at all. In December the 2012 Champions League came to a conclusion with Al Ahly and Esperance of Tunis in the final. This is news the soccer public in South Africa must know, to be informed and to appreciate the progress of other countries on the continent.

The winner there, which eventually was Al Ahly of Cairo, was to move on to represent Africa in the Fifa Club World Cup. Now that is something affecting us; we need to know who is representing us, and be up to date with their progress until the end of the world event. But South African media does not think that is important, and that extends to the masses who support the game. The latter swear by their local heroes only, and they are blank if you seek their opinion on TP Mazembe or Sunshine Stars or Wydad Casablanca.

The ignorance in South Africa about the game on the continent is self-inflicted and we are paying a heavy price for it. The bubble we have created so that we can comfortably believe, on our own, that we are the best has burst long time ago but only people like Mr Sibiya see that. Others take our aimless floating in the air as being buoyant and tops! Last week a newspaper reporter described the resumption of the local league after Afcon-enforced break as the restart of the “biggest league in Africa”. Really?

As SuperSport  United travel to DR Congo, to meet little known opposition in Don Bosco, accompanying write ups in South African would often say the SA team is meeting “unknowns”. Unknown to who? Isn’t it a journalist’s duty to research and provide information, to avoid clumsy generilisations like “unknown”. If a club is unknown then how did it reach CAF competition, duh!

 Don Bosco is based in Lubumbashi, Katanga province, just like FC Lupopo and TP Mazembe. Like Mazembe, Bosco is owned by the Katumbi family, whose head, 48-year-old Moise Katumbi Chapwe, owns TP Mazembe. His son, Champion, owns Bosco.

They can afford two clubs because Katumbi, who is also the governor of mineral-rich Katanga, is a wealthy businessman whose interests include shareholding in copper mines. His net worth is estimated at US$60 million.

Bosco is starting new life in DRC’s top flight this year after their promotion from the lower league, from where they won the Congolese cup, which qualified them for the Confed Cup. Like more fancied TP Mazembe, Don Bosco also has a strong Zambian connection in its playing and technical staff, including head coach Fordson Kabole.  It also has three Zimbabweans in Carrington Gomba, who signed in January, and Chris Semekwari and Darryl Nyandoro, who helped Don Bosco gain promotion.

Last weekend they fine-tuned for the SuperSport United game by beating Konkola Blades from Zambia 2-0. That’s the bit about Don Bosco, more on them SuperSport United will find out for themselves at the Kenya Stadium in Lubumbashi on the weekend.

For the record, Orlando Pirates host Djabal from Comoros in the first leg of the preliminary round of the Champions League at Orlando Pirates. Good lucks Bucs and United.

The usual vibe. . . at the Kenya Stadium, Lubumbashi, when TP Mazembe are in action. SuperSport United are scheduled to play here this weekend. 

Afcon finally heads for climatic finale

Real deal. . . Jonathan Pitroipa will be the man to watch for Burkina Faso in the 2013 Afcon final today.

THE 2013 Orange Africa Cup of Nations tournament is heading to a potentially exciting finale today after a stuttering start which fed on the apathy of the local fans. After a low-key opening ceremony and two goalless draws on the first day - and another draw in Group B fixtures the second day, before Mali finally cracked it against Niger later that day - it appeared the tournament was heading for disaster.

The referees also got into the act for all the wrong reasons, deciding outcomes through bizarre decisions. Strangely enough, pre-tournament favourites Ghana and defending champions Zambia were the biggest beneficiaries of refereeing shenanigans. Though some argue CAF is the mastermind behind the questionable decisions, the controlling body to their credit took decisive action. They expelled three referees from the tournament, including South Africa’s Daniel Bennett. Even bigger, the decision by Tunisian referee Slim Jdidi to red-card star Burkina Faso winger Jonathan Pitroipa was reversed.

Earlier on the tournament was rescued by Bafana Bafana’s 2-0 win over a strangely weak Angola, and high voltage 4-0 victory by a 10-man Burkina Faso over Ethiopia, changed everything. After this the tournament finally had a home in South Africa, with the action on the pitch also picking up on this mood. The Burkina Faso game against Ethiopia also revealed the star of tournament: Jonathan Pitroipa, the slightly-built forward with the looks of a model.

It was going to be a great shame for the game and the tournament had the final proceeded without Pitroipa, all because of a careless refereeing mistake. The official, Jdidi was supposed to award Pitroipa and his team the penalty after the latter was felled in the box while he was on attack.

Another great shame for the event was the pitch at the Mbombela Stadium. How the tournament was allowed to continue on that dump is curious and downright scandalous. Someone’s head has to roll for the national disgrace. If it’s not the mayor the Mbombela municipality, under whose watch this mess happened, then his immediate boss – the provincial minister for local government – must resign on the mayor’s behalf.

Back to Burkina Faso; what a turnaround of fortune for the small landlocked nation with paltry resources. It has been a curious factor that BF had been a regular feature in the Afcon, since their hosting of the 1998 edition, when they finished fourth. Despite qualifying consistently ever since, the Stallions had been failing to go past the first round.  Now, they are not only in the final match but they are dishing out the most exciting show in the 2013 tourney.

This has come as bitter pill to swallow for fancied Cote d’Ivoire and Ghana to see their poor northern neighbour progress with so much aplomb. An added pain to the Ghanaians was to see the beloved Black Stars, hugely assisted by the referee, falling in the wake of hardworking Stallions.

I bet many Ghanaians are going through sleepless nights, thanks to recurring nightmares featuring the spiky blond hair of Aristide Bance! A TV footage a day after Ghana’s defeat showed a woman in Ghana colours weeping openly in the streets, not so much for the pain of losing a football match but for the shock and humiliation of losing to the Burkinabe, the people who have always looked up to them for inspiration and hope.

And what a comeback by Nigeria – the Super Eagles are soaring high where they belong, thanks to Stephen Keshi. Isn’t ironic that Nigeria is on the brink of its first title since 1994, when Keshi himself was the captain? Larger than life Keshi has a way of provoking emotions hanging precariously at the edges: Keshi the stubborn, the brave, the clumsy, the hero. . . no half measures when coming to the “Big Boss”. Whether you love or despise him, Keshi will surge ahead governed by his own rules.

He successfully helped Togo qualify for 2006 Fifa World Cup – the biggest footballing achievement by the tiny west African country. But because still the Togo authorities found easier to fire Keshi , ahead of the world cup, just because he didn’t take Emmanuel Adebayor’s crap. The Togolese realized their error and appointed Keshi again in 2011, but that’s then the Super Eagles also became vacant and Big Boss moved on to where he is today.

He found a messed up camp at the Super Eagles and took risks to make them a well-oiled machine that they are today. Keshi had to take risks – and duck insults – to achieve that. He showed Odemwigie and many other peacocks the door, and rebuilt the Super Eagles from scratch. Nigeria had 17 Afcon debutants this tournbament, including six home-based players. That was never heard of in Nigerian football in almost two decades, and Keshi’s head was on the block.

Win or lose later today the Big Boss is having the last laugh: Nigerians are now singing the praises of Elderson Echiejile, Sunday Mba and Emanuel Emenike. The latter has come a long way since playing in the lower division of South Africa in 2008-09, for Mpumalanga Black Aces and later FC Cape Town. Enjoy a triumphant return to South Africa, Emenike is 2013 Afcon top scorer with four goals. The man from Otuocha, Anambra, is also a strong contender for player of the tournament.

Nigeria or Burkina Faso? I love them both, so let the best team win. And Mr Ref, please step out of the way!

Who's the boss. . . Nigeria coach Stephen Keshi