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After a long battle for the title of president of Safa, Kirsten Nematandani scores the winning goal by taking the hot seatArguably the commercial powerhouse of sport on the African continent, soccer is nevertheless dogged by persistent political bickering and infighting off the pitch and an extraordinary implosion that has seen South Africa plummet from number 26 to 85 in the world.
Kirsten Nematandani could not have been presented with a more gigantic challenge of transforming South Africa with its sporting code in turmoil into the number-one soccer nation on the continent.
He began his reign in controversial fashion as the hotly contested South African Football Association (Safa) presidential election descended into chaos with both candidates, Irvin Khoza and Danny Jordaan, dramatically withdrawing from the race. The withdrawal paved the way for the election of Nematandani, the compromise candidate and chairperson of the Referees Committee. Chief Mwelo Nonkonyana and Mandla “Shoes” Mazibuko were elected unopposed as vice presidents.
Local Organising Committee (LOC) chairperson Khoza, whose battle with LOC chief executive officer Jordaan had divided the football fraternity, stormed out of the conference.
A vote was taken on whether North West’s Motsweding region should participate in the election, because it had submitted its delegation list late. The Jordaan camp voted in favour of its participation – winning 126 to 112. With each region accounting for votes, it meant Jordaan’s vote went up to 130, according to the Sunday Times (27 September 2009).
After the vote, delegate Mubarak Mohammed, aligned to Khoza, was heard saying: “We are going to lose this thing. We can’t win the election with that number of votes.”
A delegate told the Sunday Times that Khoza had simply stood up and declared: “For the sake of football and unity in football, I am withdrawing my candidacy.”
He then walked out. The eligibility of both Khoza and Jordaan was questioned from the floor after the outgoing president Molefi Oliphant dissolved the National Executive Council. Jordaan’s supporters objected to Khoza’s candidacy because he is chairperson of the Premier Soccer League.
The argument against Jordaan was that he is not an associate member of the organisation but a paid member of the association.
His election is seen as a victory for the Football Transformation Forum (FTF), of which Jordaan is the head. It appears to some as if Jordaan and the FTF outmanoeuvred Khoza in a tense standoff that resulted in both men withdrawing from the presidential race.
It became impossible for Jordaan or Khoza to take over the reins as Safa president because of too much acrimony, not only between their men but also between their followers.
Jordaan and Khoza were two of the leading lights in bringing the 2010 Fifa Soccer World Cup to South Africa. But, say some observers, when the Safa presidency came up, they both wanted control of the association.
SA’s decline a pressing issue
Currently, power and control will have to wait.There are more pressing issues at stake.
One is the ‘small’ matter of South Africa’s decline on the world stage, suffering eight defeats in nine games before Safa replaced Joel Santana as Bafana Bafana coach in October. The Brazilian World Cup winning coach Carlos Alberto Parreira took over after the spate of poor results.
“The reason for opting for Parreira so quickly is that we have a massive time constraint with the World Cup just around the corner,” Nematandani said. “I will be honest and say that we knew other South African-born coaches were keen to be appointed. But we simply did not have the time to short-list candidates. We (the NEC) decided after a lengthy debate that Parreira was the right person to take us to the 2010 World Cup finals.” (Source: SuperSport Zone)
Parreira is the 17th appointment as Bafana head coach in 17 years since South Africa was readmitted as a member of world controlling body Fifa after years of isolation due to the former South African regime’s apartheid policy.
Nematandani said Parreira’s mandate was to produce the best team he could and a side that would be able to compete against the best in the world at the World Cup. “We are confident we will have a successful World Cup under Parreira,” he said.
The Safa president also announced that a third assistant coach would be added to assist Parreira. The likely coach is SuperSport United’s Gavin Hunt, who is the standout candidate.
The alarming statistics… from 26 to 85
The alarming statistics of the 17 appointments in 17 years is due partially because of South Africa’s decline in the world rankings. Bafana Bafana won the African Cup of Nations in 1996. South Africa was ranked number 26 in the world in that year.
Currently, the host nation for the 2010 World Cup is among the lesser lights of world football, and placed at number 85 internationally. It is not even among the top-10 nations in Africa. And that is not because of dire financial straits during the current recessionary climate.
A financial powerhouse
The Premier Soccer League (PSL) is one of the strongest leagues in Africa. It has helped raise the standard and profile of club football in Africa, providing the sport with better media coverage and much improved revenue through strong sponsorship deals.
In June 2007, the PSL pulled off an astounding coup when it signed a R1.6-billion broadcast deal with SuperSport International, reported Brad Morgan.
In August 2007, corporate heavyweights South African Breweries (SAB) and Absa announced a joint sponsorship of more than R500 million over the next five years for South African football. SAB is behind Bafana Bafana, while Absa sponsors the PSL’s Premier Division.
In February 2008, Nedbank announced that it would put up R20m in prize money for the Nedbank Cup knockout competition as part of a five-year, R400-million sponsorship of the local game.
In August 2008, cellular giant MTN committed the same amount to the local game, while taking over the title sponsorship of the Top 8 knockout tournament.
These deals combined have made South Africa’s PSL the seventh biggest earner of sponsorship revenue among football leagues worldwide. (Source: Info South Africa; PSL Wikipedia).
Getting SA back to number one
Nematandani’s first goal upon being appointed president was to announce boldly that Safa and Bafana Bafana would be ranked the best in Africa again. That, he says, is a realistic goal.
Bafana Bafana was the best in 1996 and nothing will stop the team from achieving the same feat. “We are a wealthy country, with the best football brains and facilities, and I don’t see a reason why we should not be number one. It is where we belong,” Nematandani told Mail & Guardian.
But when BBQ spoke to the new Safa president on one of his three cellphones, he admitted that a lack of professionalism and attention to grassroots development have contributed to South Africa’s soccer decline.
“Without developing players from the regional structures, you cannot get talented players that you need in the national team. You need to invest at grassroots level in order to produce a pool of talented players. It is just as important to attend to the grassroots as it is to a farmer to prepare the ground for the crop. You have to water it and maintain it in order to prepare the ground.
“South Africa, according to experts, has the talent, but in order to develop that talent, you have to pick them,” Nematandani added.
“This country was at the top of the African field in 1996. When you grow and reach maturity, you cannot afford to relax. The moment you relax, disaster strikes. That is what happened to us in South African soccer.
“We have to review our strategy to make the product viable for the market. We have competitiveness and a wealth of talent,” he said.
“We have the coaches and the performance centres, but we need to review our strategy in terms of tapping into centres of excellence like Potchefstroom, Cape Town and the University of Pretoria.”
Lack of professionalism in the PSL
“Yes, South Africa is an economic powerhouse.
But we need to utilise our money in soccer correctly to match the product. If we analyse which of our PSL teams are run professionally, we’ll see there are only one or two who match the criteria,” says Nematandani. The lack of professionalism hurt the South African cause, he added.
Another factor that is not conducive to the evolution of top players is a lack of skills development. He is concerned that lifeskills development, or lack thereof, as well as a tendency to cut off professional players from tertiary education, could be detrimental to South African soccer.
Learning from Amabokoboko...
“Look at the Springbok team of 1995 who won the World Cup. There were 10 graduates among the group of players. How many graduates do you have in the Bafana Bafana team? And what does that tell you?” said Nematandani.
“If we want to be a quality organisation at Safa, we need to become a learning organisation. If you stop learning, you stop growing, and you stop living.”
The Springbok team of 2009 that has beaten the British & Irish Lions and won the Tri-Nations in convincing fashion, was always one step ahead of the opposition.
What Bafana Bafana can learn from the Boks, is that they have embraced sports science and technology effectively. That has given them the competitive edge. Consistent match analysis to dissect the strengths and weaknesses of opponents has made them acutely aware of what game plan to adopt in critical matches, added Nematandani.
… and from Manchester United
The English Premier League giant Manchester United has become a dynasty that has won a multitude of titles due to consistency. It has kept faith with Alex Ferguson and senior players, and has used science and technology consistently to keep the team abreast of modern developments.
Linking up with schools
Nematandani says football has left it to clubs to look after and develop young players. Rugby has linked up with schools and universities to develop excellent products.
One thing that has worried him, is that young players are given the burdensome choice to decide whether to play soccer or go to university when they are 18. That is wrong. He would rather see them link up with higher centres of learning and benefit from the education than to skip university or college, the new president told BBQ.
What makes good leaders in soccer?
Nematandani says the key to good leadership in South African soccer is integrity. “We must observe good corporate governance. Leaders must be accountable. They must realise that they are there to serve people, instead of bossing them around. People don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care,” Nematandani told BBQ.
He says another key ingredient is that Safa executives, including himself, should be hard workers who are trustworthy. They also need to be good listeners. “We must care for people. Engage with them.”
A devout Christian, Nematandani said to BBQ he refuses to harbour fear for South Africa’s soccer challenges, because God is with him. “With Him next to me, I will be able to conquer my fears.”
The Soccer World Cup
Nematandani has called on South African fans to rally behind Parreira and Bafana Bafana. On the choice of appointing the Brazilian, he said: “It is Parreira’s programme that the national team is following, so it’s only fair and wise that he returns to continue with it.“
As a South African, it would have been nice to appoint a local. But the national team is in a crisis and there are bigger challenges. We chose the experience of Carlos rather than to experiment.”
Back to the future
In the interim, it was revealed that Jordaan could take over from Raymond Hack as chief executive officer of Safa. Hack’s contract ends after the World Cup.
“These are some of the options we are toying with,” said Nonkonyana, when asked what was next for Jordaan.
“We will meet over the next two weeks to finalise matters. Danny is part of our plans and will play a big role in Safa,” he said.
Nematandani confirmed the plans to bring Jordaan back into the fold, saying: “Jordaan was initially from Safa, but had to leave (to lead the LOC), and that is why Hack is CEO of the organisation.” (Source: Sunday Times, 11 October 2009).
Jordaan was cautious when approached: “My only focus is the World Cup. After staging a successful tournament, I will exercise my mind on this issue. We owe ourselves and the continent a memorable World Cup.”
Fanie Heyns
