Disarray 3 — Safa 0 - Thought Leader

I usually reserve my judgements about Safa and SA football around the braai, or in a pub, since I don’t claim to know everything about football in this country. I can tell you that it is the country’s most popular sport, and with SuperSport hopping on the PSL wagon after winning the broadcast right from the SABC, there is money flowing into the game. Then, of course, there is the World Cup next year which is just over the horizon.

I will always support Bafana Bafana, and wish the team the best through the good times and the bad. I’m a proud South African and take offence when I read crass nonsense eschewing from the mouths, laptops and palm pilots of uitlanders (especially those expats who have a bone to chew with someone). Joel Santana

The Confederations Cup provided the SA football public with a timely boost, with it being clear from the uninitiated (I would include myself in that group) that SA does indeed have potential and though we might not have a player as commanding as Michael Essien or Didier Drogba, Steven Pienaar is pretty damn close. Also, one way Bafana Bafana proved to be a difficult contest during the tournament was through Bafana Bafana’s high work rate and commitment, something SA sporting teams are renowned for.

After the Confed Cup, I assumed that the upward curve would continue, no matter how slowly and by now the team would be in a place that might give those who had lost all faith (I was in that group) the chance to turn back and find the golden road.

Alas, it was not to be, with Joel Santana’s men (or boys considering how they are playing at the moment) showing us just how poor SA is in comparison to where we want to be. The man from Brazil’s only victory in seven outings came against a Madagascar side that are amateur in most senses of the word.

Many are calling for Santana’s head, and though I’m not the man’s biggest admirer (especially with the team playing very poorly) the performance of Bafana Bafana under his stewardship is more of a symptom of the real cause of these problems: Safa.

Though I imagine there are many people in Safa doing a good job, from this very much outside perspective, it is incredibly difficult for a team to succeed when those who are charged with running the administrative side are not functioning as well as they could be. The recent Safa presidential election is a case in point, mimicking an ANC Youth League election that one that is meant to be representative of the best football brains in South Africa.

Santana will, especially with the appointment of the executioner committee (whoops … let that slip out), most likely get the sack. However, though his coaching prowess has been the subject of debate (3 defensive midfielders?) we should be looking at his bosses for letting the situation reach this point and doing what SA football needs least right now: panicking.

Whoever they bring in to replace Santana has a massive job (if not an impossible one) on their hands and though “The Boys” keep losing on the field, Safa appear to be content to allow the slide to continue in the boardroom. They surely knew that Carlos Alberto Parreira’s wife was ill and though the 2010 LOC has done a sterling job getting the country ready for the tournament, they should’ve have sent Santana on his way because now it probably is way too late.

Granted, all these observations are made in retrospect, but the men and women at Safa are paid to ensure these things don’t happen. Hopefully they can turn things around but that’s what we’ve been saying all along isn’t it?