Cape Town — The guardians of the national game, whatever the sports code may be, don't always take responsibility for their actions and fail to see the consequences of their decisions.
Just over a week ago, the Springboks, South Africa's national team, fielded a team which showed 14 changes, much to the disgust of the opposition Wales, who felt insulted that South Africa saw fit to send out a B team in a rugby international.
Of course, the South African's brainstrust had reason to do what they did, but in the process, they surrendered a proud record after Wales, ranked No 8 in the world, defeated the Boks, ranked No 3, in South Africa for the first time in history. The defeat sparked a mass backlash from Springbok supporters who felt there was no justification for losing a game because of a weakened team.
Later, it was clarified that the Springboks, the reigning World Cup champions, were in a process of team building for the next World Cup and wanted to expose a large group of mostly greenhorns to international rugby.
In much the same vein, the South African Football Association (SAFA) fielded a 'no-name brand' squad for the COSAFA Cup tournament in Durban, and Bafana Bafana bombed out at the first hurdle.
The backlash was intense, and many supporters felt the team had no right to bear the name Bafana Bafana. On social media, supporters disowned the team and cried foul because of the absence of the national team coach Hugo Broos.
Things became so bad last week that, the 21-year-old Kegan Johannes who is leading the side at Cosafa Cup, addressed the subject at a media conference: ''We are Bafana because if you look at it, these are the guys that will represent the country in the next five years to come."
Whereas the Springboks have put a fair amount of thought into the matter of 14 changes to the national team, the same could not be said about Bafana Bafana. Instead of sending out a fledgling Under-21 team, the squad could have included a few experienced campaigners to help shepherd the greenhorns into the regional tier of senior football.
It has been said the squad was chosen with the view to preparing players for the 2024 World Cup qualifiers. If that was the case, why not rope in the players who could fill the three slots for over-age players in participating teams. There is also the matter of FIFA raising the ages to 24 years (instead of 23) for the next Olympic Games.
And where was Broos, the national team coach? His position is such that he should also serve as the country's director of football. It was a wonderful opportunity for the second assistant coach Helman Mkhalele to grow as a national team mentor, but it should have been done at the expense of Bafana Bafana's demise.
The Premier Soccer League (PSL) clubs have a bad attitude towards making players available for national team duty. Gone are days when clubs went all out to have their players in the national team because it increased the player's value immensely.
It is a situation Broos and his assistants are aware of, and therefore, they needed to put in the hard yards when assembling the national squad. They should have earmarked a few senior players and approached the clubs for their services. Of course, there would have been rejections, but some would have agreed to release players.
How much thought has gone into the selection of the squad, especially since the dynamics changed drastically because of the higher age?
What was Broos' excuse for not being there? And where was his first assistant, the Macedonian-born coach Cedomir Janevski?
SAFA should make it the last time that the national team's head coaches treat the COSAFA Cup with contempt and make sure when the next edition come around, Broos and his understudy Janevski are in Bafana Bafana's dugout.
IOL Sport