There is absolute no doubt that this past weekend is one
to forget for many South African sports loving fans. It started on Saturday at
the Mbobela stadium when Bafana Bafana failed to qualify for next year’s edition
of the Africa Cup of Nations and the next day the Springboks failed to progress
to the semis of the 2011 Rugby World Cup.
To make matters worse everyone was celebrating not
knowing we didn’t make it because SAFA and our media were not informed enough. The
referee’s whistle at Nelspruit was met by enormous celebrations with players
and the fans getting excited about qualifying for AFCON. However this was short
lived when it emerged that Bafana didn’t qualify and Niger were the ones who
had qualified.
So the big question was, why didn’t we make it?
This is what CAF had
to say in their statement: Regarding Group G, Niger, South Africa and
Sierra Leone have all finished tied at 9 points each, with Egypt bottom of the
group with 5 points. In such a case, when two or more teams are equal on
points, article 14 of the competition applies as follows:
In case of equality of points between two or more teams,
after all the matches, the ranking of the teams shall be established according
to the following criteria:
14.1
Greater number of points obtained in matches between the concerned teams;
14.2 Best goal difference in matches between the
concerned teams;
14.3 Greater number of goals scored in the group matches
between the concerned teams;
14.4 Greater number of away goals scored in the direct
matches between the concerned teams;
14.5 Goal difference in all the group matches;
14.6 Greatest number of goals scored in all the group
matches;
14.7 A drawing of lots by the Organising Committee of
CAF;
Therefore, in application of rule 14.1 CAF has considered only results of matches between the
concerned teams, i.e. Niger, South Africa and Sierra Leone (discounting Egypt
as the bottom team with 5 points- hence not concerned anymore), resulting in
the following ranking based on 4 matches played by each concerned:
Niger- 6 points
South Africa- 5 points
Sierra Leone- 5 points
Niger is therefore qualified to the final phase.
Now who is to blame for all this confusion because in all
fairness, the rules have been long out there but no one gathered enough courage
to have a closer look at them. It’s not like these qualifying regulations were
produced after the BAFANA game.
It was disturbing to hear the SAFA president Kirstern
Nematandani saying these rules were not normal football rules. Off course they
might seem a little strange or unfamiliar but why is that no one from the
organisation bothered to analyse them?
This highlights the incompetence that the fans and the media
have long accused SAFA of. How did they let it slip? Which rules were they
subscribing to and who prescribed them? Each and every competition has its own
rules.
On the same note how did the media also let it slip? I
personally believe that the media should have done their own investigations and
analysis of these regulations. Instead they kept on telling us that if
Egypt beat Niger and we don’t lose we will be safe. What
happened to informing citizens?
At the end of the day, it is a joke when you ask yourself
how SAFA and the media failed to take note of these regulations. Lessons have
been learnt in a hard way, it is a lesson for us as fans not to be passive
receivers of news but we have to stand and think on our own. It wouldn’t hurt
if we become critical in our thinking and analysing what is happening around
us.
On the field of play Bafana put one of the worst
performances that we have ever seen displayed by a home team. The lads played
as if it we were already a qualified team with no dedication at all. It’s not
so often that you see teams in football trying to avoid a defeat or playing for
a draw in front of their own fans.
As if that wasn’t enough the next morning our hopes were
dashed by the events that were happening over 7 000 miles away when the
Springboks were ejected from the 2011 IRB RWC. As much as the referee was hard on us I still
feel we didn’t use our chances and that’s how we got punished.
I am not rugby fundi but since Peter de Villiers has
hinted that he won’t be renewing his contract, it means now we need a new
coach. But does that mean we are going hire and change a coach every four
years. Don’t we need some form of transition in our rugby because I don’t think
starting new project every four years is a wise thing to do?
I will leave the rest do the self-proclaimed rugby
pundits here at sport 24 blogging community, we have a lot of them. I am sure
they have plenty to say.
By Terence Mthembu
