One of the most commonly used critique is that many of them did not play football. People who understand sport, in particular football and by understanding I mean a grassroots understanding of football will know that this is a flawed critique.
Football is not just about 22 men, it is about the love of the game, in many townships we find doctors, lawyers, teachers, businesspeople who love the game and tap into their own sometimes meagre financial resources to support grassroots football.
An amateur team I was involved with as a teenager was supported by a factory worker who shared in his earnings to provide transport and refreshments to our team, and in fact once used his bonus to get us decent gear.
Ask Ria Ledwaba how she got involved in football, she was approached as a known sport lover by a local team to support the team administratively and financially and she did, this applies to many people today who run the sport.
This argument that football is run by people who did not play the sport and therefore have no idea what they are doing is an emotional outburst that has no grounding and that is why we find it only in football.
Maybe we need to extend this ridiculous stipulation to all the sectors in football, how about “everyone who writes about professional football should have played the sport at that level”, maybe “everyone who goes to the stadium should have played professional”, or maybe “all referees should have played professional”, it is ridiculous, football is a sport of love and frankly many of these players can hardly manage themselves hence they are in doldrums today and having played football does not make you forever deserving.
I have never heard people say that in other sport or sector, maybe to run Telkom one needs to have been a technician or SAA pilots should run SAA, or maybe its time I became CEO at my company too, and in fact it is only in this country that these arguments are advanced.
When days were dark in football it is these people who kept the fires burning in the sport that made it possible for all of us to marvel at the 22 men on the field and off course being a nation of critics we will never appreciate that.
It is only when you have participated in football at the most unfashionable levels that you understand the sacrifices that people make as football lovers, and just because Lucas Radebe played for Chiefs and Leeds does not mean he would and should be a an administrator or even a coach, if he wants to, he must start where there is no glamour, at local level by supporting local football administration at that level, it is these constituencies that will help him cut his teeth and grow as a football administrator.
Football administrators are not beyond reproach and in fact need us to keep them on their toes, however they should also be commended for their love of the sport, former players were great, well some of them anyway and should be commended for their contribution but administration is a whole new different ball game.
MR KNOW IT ALL
Mr. Know it ALL’s I write what I like
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Well said, I am really happy to see a South African writing very imformatively like this. I wish a whole lot of people can get to read this article. I am sending this to all my Friends. Keep it up Diskioff.