While the year 2024 has been full of thrills and frills and excitement with some jaw-dropping performances, there have been some embarrassing own goals from the players, the officials, the coaches and the administrators.
This comes with the territory in sports. You always have to be on your toes and alert for the entire time, because one silly mistake or a lapse in concentration can result in devastating outcomes and embarrassing situations.
Officials and administrators too have found themselves dropping the ball and getting heat for maladministration, corruption and candid ineptitude and incompetence. And 2024 has been no different with some crashes and burning.
Kaizer Chiefs finishing out of the Top 8:
Amakhosi are a sad shadow of their former selves. After juggling coaches from Arthur Zwane to Molefi Ntseki and then Cavin Johnson, the cup drought continued and things got worse. For the first time in history, they finished their ninth and were forced to watch the MTN8 on television.
After pressure from the supporters, they acquired the services of Tunisian coach Nasreddine Nabi, and there was a huge excitement at Naturena when they won their opening match against Marumo Gallants. But now, things have gone back to factory settings, and after eight matches, they are still out of the Top 8. Truth be told, they have had a 2024 they would want to forget quickly.
PSL referees really need to pull their socks up:
The fans have lost trust and confidence in referees officiating in league matches. Week in and week out, the referees are dropping the whistle and are dishing out some of the dodgy officiating.
The fans, the officials and even Minister of Sports Gayton McKenzie have been calling for the video assistant referee to be implemented so that the referees can make clean and fair calls while under pressure. Referees have been suspended, struck off the roll, and taken to rehabilitation and training; others have been taken back to the referee’s school, but the situation is not improving at all. The fans are getting restless; they are throwing missiles onto the ground, and the situation is spiralling out of control at an alarming speed.
Safa not paying Bafana match fees:
The South African Football Association (Safa) did not cover themselves in glory when they failed to pay Bafana Bafana stars their bonuses on time.
Bafana are on an upward trajectory and they brought back the fans, self-respect and a winning attitude in the team, but Safa is not coming to the party. They had promised to sort the outstanding by the end of the year, but it still remains to be seen if that has been achieved.
There was no AFL this year and CAF just disappeared into a hole:
The African Football League (AFL) was launched amid much fanfare in Cairo last year. The whole shebang had the entire continent talking. Mamelodi Sundowns and coach Rulani Mokwena won the inaugural tournament and bagged a cool R75-million.
But just a year after the glitz and glamour of the launch, no one seems to know what on earth is going on with the 2024 edition of the AFL. Even the fellows at CAF are avoiding the topic like a bad rash.
Mike Tyson and Jake Paul ‘staged’ fight:
The Mike Tyson vs Jake Paul boxing fight was one of the biggest scams and fallacies the game of fisticuffs has ever seen.
It should be removed from the record books as an official fight because fans were taken for a ride, lots of money was made by the two fighters and promoters also smiled all the way to the bank.
