MNINAWA NTLOKO: Talk of sport gets some fans hot under the collar
Bafana’s debacle against Ghana in World Cup qualifier and never-ending trouble at Cricket SA are contentious issues
01 February 2022 - 19:55
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Head coach Mark Boucher says his only focus is to get the Proteas back to the top, where they belong. Picture: GALLO IMAGES/SEB DALY
My rickety jalopy suddenly made a rumbling noise while I was on the N1 south of Pretoria the other day and my friend, who considers himself as some kind of car expert, advised me to take it to this garage in the west of Johannesburg. The manager of the garage assigned this rather talkative mechanic to the case and boy, the man can talk!
Without being prompted, he happily shared his views on Cyril Ramaphosa’s performance as SA president. He didn’t dwell on the subject for long and quickly moved to an analysis of Julius Malema and his EFF.
He followed this up with his take on Jacob Zuma’s legal troubles, the skills of the wrestlers in the WWE, the Springboks, Bafana Bafana’s place in world football, Mark Boucher and his pending disciplinary hearing at Cricket SA, the Proteas’ place in world cricket and the state of affairs at Manchester United, among many other topics.
The rumbling noise turned out to be some loose nuts and bolts on the exhaust pipe, but what should have been a quick 15-minute job became an hour due to the running commentary that accompanied each turn of the spanner.
I could not get a word in during the one-sided conversation and was not even able to counter some of the craziness he confidently shared as fact. I quickly figured that while he had an opinion about anything and everything, sport seemed to rev him up more than any other topic.
His voice rose several decibels as soon as he spoke about the Springboks and he maintained that Siya Kolisi’s side does not get the respect they deserve. He nearly lost it when he switched to the never-ending trouble at Cricket SA and their numerous off-the-field woes.
Boucher is in the firing line as a result of testimony heard at Cricket SA’s social justice and nation-building hearings. Boucher and his legal representatives met the chair of the disciplinary hearing, advocate Terry Motau, last week to decide on the timetable for the proceedings after the charges of gross misconduct were brought by Cricket SA.
He faces allegations of racist behaviour during his days as a national player. The disciplinary proceedings have been set for May 16-20. But in the meantime the coach will travel with the team this week for their tour of New Zealand. He will also be at the helm when Bangladesh visit next month.
I thought he was about to have a stroke when he turned his attention to Bafana Bafana. I had to keep asking him to calm down as he shared his views on the debacle against Ghana that saw SA fail to reach the playoffs of the qualification for the World Cup in Qatar later this year.
It appears unlikely the SA Football Association (Safa) will take their complaint about the officiating of referee Maguette N’Diaye in their November 0-1 World Cup qualifying defeat to Ghana in Cape Coast any further.
A letter Safa received from Fifa last month details the reasoning for the global body’s disciplinary committee rejecting the complaint over the controversial handling of the match by N’Diaye.
Fifa’s letter claims Safa did not pay the fee for a protest within a 24-hour deadline. But Safa CEO Tebogo Motlanthe insisted last month that there was a miscommunication as he says they did not lodge a protest with Fifa, but a complaint, for which he said there is no deadline to pay a fee.
What is certain is that Bafana will not be part of the playoffs while Ghana will get to face Nigeria in a two-legged tie on March 21 and 29 to determine if one of the two will be part of the five-member African contingent that is to represent the continent in Qatar.
But trust me, South Africans will be heavily invested in the outcome of that two-legged playoff as Ghana has soon found out. The nation’s soccer lovers will be firmly in Nigeria’s corner and they will probably scream louder than even the fans in the populous West African nation.
Consider this, South Africans supported all the teams that Ghana played against in the Africa Cup of Nations and communicated their happiness at the West Africans’ misery on social media until they crashed out last month.
Ghana’s misery makes many folks happy in this part of the world and you can only imagine what will happen during the playoffs. Just ask my mechanic.
Support our award-winning journalism. The Premium package (digital only) is R30 for the first month and thereafter you pay R129 p/m now ad-free for all subscribers.
MNINAWA NTLOKO: Talk of sport gets some fans hot under the collar
Bafana’s debacle against Ghana in World Cup qualifier and never-ending trouble at Cricket SA are contentious issues
My rickety jalopy suddenly made a rumbling noise while I was on the N1 south of Pretoria the other day and my friend, who considers himself as some kind of car expert, advised me to take it to this garage in the west of Johannesburg. The manager of the garage assigned this rather talkative mechanic to the case and boy, the man can talk!
Without being prompted, he happily shared his views on Cyril Ramaphosa’s performance as SA president. He didn’t dwell on the subject for long and quickly moved to an analysis of Julius Malema and his EFF.
He followed this up with his take on Jacob Zuma’s legal troubles, the skills of the wrestlers in the WWE, the Springboks, Bafana Bafana’s place in world football, Mark Boucher and his pending disciplinary hearing at Cricket SA, the Proteas’ place in world cricket and the state of affairs at Manchester United, among many other topics.
The rumbling noise turned out to be some loose nuts and bolts on the exhaust pipe, but what should have been a quick 15-minute job became an hour due to the running commentary that accompanied each turn of the spanner.
I could not get a word in during the one-sided conversation and was not even able to counter some of the craziness he confidently shared as fact. I quickly figured that while he had an opinion about anything and everything, sport seemed to rev him up more than any other topic.
His voice rose several decibels as soon as he spoke about the Springboks and he maintained that Siya Kolisi’s side does not get the respect they deserve. He nearly lost it when he switched to the never-ending trouble at Cricket SA and their numerous off-the-field woes.
Boucher is in the firing line as a result of testimony heard at Cricket SA’s social justice and nation-building hearings. Boucher and his legal representatives met the chair of the disciplinary hearing, advocate Terry Motau, last week to decide on the timetable for the proceedings after the charges of gross misconduct were brought by Cricket SA.
He faces allegations of racist behaviour during his days as a national player. The disciplinary proceedings have been set for May 16-20. But in the meantime the coach will travel with the team this week for their tour of New Zealand. He will also be at the helm when Bangladesh visit next month.
I thought he was about to have a stroke when he turned his attention to Bafana Bafana. I had to keep asking him to calm down as he shared his views on the debacle against Ghana that saw SA fail to reach the playoffs of the qualification for the World Cup in Qatar later this year.
It appears unlikely the SA Football Association (Safa) will take their complaint about the officiating of referee Maguette N’Diaye in their November 0-1 World Cup qualifying defeat to Ghana in Cape Coast any further.
A letter Safa received from Fifa last month details the reasoning for the global body’s disciplinary committee rejecting the complaint over the controversial handling of the match by N’Diaye.
Fifa’s letter claims Safa did not pay the fee for a protest within a 24-hour deadline. But Safa CEO Tebogo Motlanthe insisted last month that there was a miscommunication as he says they did not lodge a protest with Fifa, but a complaint, for which he said there is no deadline to pay a fee.
What is certain is that Bafana will not be part of the playoffs while Ghana will get to face Nigeria in a two-legged tie on March 21 and 29 to determine if one of the two will be part of the five-member African contingent that is to represent the continent in Qatar.
But trust me, South Africans will be heavily invested in the outcome of that two-legged playoff as Ghana has soon found out. The nation’s soccer lovers will be firmly in Nigeria’s corner and they will probably scream louder than even the fans in the populous West African nation.
Consider this, South Africans supported all the teams that Ghana played against in the Africa Cup of Nations and communicated their happiness at the West Africans’ misery on social media until they crashed out last month.
Ghana’s misery makes many folks happy in this part of the world and you can only imagine what will happen during the playoffs. Just ask my mechanic.
• Follow Ntloko on Twitter at @ntlokom
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