The post-2010 development buzz has come to nought
Safa has dedicated June 11 to July 11 to celebrate 10 years since South Africa hosted Africa’s maiden and one of the most successful World Cups to date, but a debate is raging about how the soccer extravaganza benefited football development.
This question has been put to Safa on numerous occasions, with the national soccer association pointing to the successes, or failures rather, of the national teams – from Bafana Bafana to the national Under-17s and their women counterparts – at international level.
However, as much as qualifying for continental and world finals is an achievement in its own right, the crux of the matter is a football milestone or being one of the world’s great can only be achieved by winning silverware, let alone reaching the semis or finals of a world major, something eluding our national teams.
To this day, 28 years after admission to international football, none of our national teams has managed to get out of the first round of a world tournament – except in the Africa Cup of Nations – a tournament Bafana last won 24 years ago, in their debut as hosts.
So, the bottom line is we are far off the mark as far as world football goes, and many a Safa critic has put the blame at the national football governing body’s door for failure to make an impact in Africa and the world stage.
Over the years, more so after the 2010 World Cup, a number of projects were launched, announced and touted as being the “saviours” meant to alleviate the lack of football infrastructure in the townships and accelerate football development at school level.
Headlining them was the World Cup Legacy Trust, which was given R450-million by Fifa to spend on development after the global soccer showpiece. No doubt, leaving a legacy was one of the main themes of the World Cup, such as the 20 Football for Hope Centres, the Win in Africa with Africa initiative, the 2010 My School Adventure and the Artificial Turfs project, to name a few.
The private sector, and FNB came to the party but to this day, nothing has come of the projects.
I have a bias towards school sport. I remember in the 80s when we couldn’t wait at Meadowlands High School to pit our prowess against the likes of Kelokitso, KwaMahlobo and Daliwonga, the latter being where Kaizer Chiefs snapped up magical star midfielder Doctor “16V” Khumalo.
There are many others from his era, like the late John “Shoes” Moshoeu. The death knell of school sports, where many talents were nurtured, is one of the most cruel sporting injustices ever to befall a township school-going child.
The departments of basic education and sports, arts and recreation must shoulder the blame for the demise.
Safa cannot be entirely exonerated.
As much as football, even sports development has been the buzzword during the return to international sport, there is a dire need to bridge the gap from the days of apartheid and take a leap to the post-1994 era.
Minimal inroads have been made towards turning this country into a fully-¡ edged football nation.
No doubt, we have the infrastructure but those multimillion-rand stadiums are becoming white elephants and the post-2010 grassroots development buzz has come to nought
