Tumo Mokone

This week started on a high for South African football, with festivities to mark the last 500 days to the big kick-off in 2010. Even FIFA, through its unpredictable president, Sepp Blatter, gave the country a thumbs up as far as the pace and direction of the preparations are concerned.

The enthusiasm can also be seen and felt through the honchos of the local organising committee, Irvin Khoza (chairperson) and Danny Jordaan (CEO). A beaming Khoza capped the eventful week by celebrating his 61st birthday on Tuesday, a day on which Bafana Bafana registered an unprecedented fifth win on the trot, after seeing off Zambia 1-0 in a practice match.

Jordaan on the other hand spent the week giving assurances that logistics and other technical aspects were either taking shape or were ahead of schedule in many areas. The most crucial pronouncement by Jordaan was that transport, security and technology plans were also at an advanced stage. This reality prompted a satisfied Blatter to declare South Africa an “organised young republic”.

One thing that is still to be tested is the real enthusiasm by the general public of South Africa. Will there be bums on the seats, to see the likes of Brazil and Italy in action? Thankfully we won’t wait until next year to know, as the country will host the Confederations Cup in June this year.

The biennial eight-nation tournament acts as the dress rehearsal to the World Cup, but only since the 2001 edition in Japan and Korea – ahead of the 2002 World Cup the two Far East countries co-hosted.

Not to be scoffed at

The Confederations Cup had humble beginnings in 1997, in an unfashionable Saudi Arabia. It also experienced the lowest spectator turnout there, of all five editions to date. Perhaps that it was a new championship, whose purpose was not yet clear, could have contributed to the “poor” attendance. But the average crowd of 20 844 in Saudi is something not to be scoffed at in all fairness.

Can we do any better, or even get half of the 60 000 average – the highest – realised in 1999 in Mexico? The response on the ground does not give out positive signals.

Firstly, there is not much discussion around the event. As usual, local fans are more concerned about who will be crowned the PSL champions in May.

Secondly, already there is evidence that ticket sales are slow, something which gave FIFA general secretary, Jerome Valcke, the blues during his visit to the country on Monday.

The Confederation Cup is not the World Cup; must we therefore be concerned at the lukewarm response to it by fans?

Yes and no.

Yes, because poor crowds will be used as a weapon by the anti-SA lobby to further slam the choice of this country for 2010. The beautiful, world class stadiums lined up for the two-week-long tournament will become an eyesore for the millions of television viewers worldwide if the stands are going to be bare.

Grudgingly bought tickets

South African soccer fans are notorious for buying tickets late, sometimes on match day. It’s a bad culture which the local game is battling to shake off, as it was seen again in some of the league matches last weekend. At Milpark, fans who arrived without tickets for the Wits v Orlando Pirates grudgingly bought tickets at twice the admission rate, from the touts who usually prowl the stadium.

In Bloemfontein kick-off was delayed as local Celtic fans arrived late for the match against Thanda Royal Zulu. How do you arrive late in your home town? In the PSL latecomers can hold up a match like that, and the guilty fans do not feel apologetic about it. Such bad habits cannot be ended by a course developed in Zurich; tough love should be dispensed by the authorities, because pre-booking was introduced to the local game in the 1980s.

Granted, back then limited technology and infrastructure meant ticket pre-sale had to be done in few Computicket outlets in major centres. This posed challenges to fans in small towns and rural areas, who were forced to travel long distances without tickets, hoping to get lucky at the stadium.

Stampedes which marred the local game throughout the 1980s and 1990s were as a result of frustrated ticketless fans trying to bulldoze their way into the stadium. Rampaging fans are not likely going to be an issue during the Confed Cup; the poser is will the fans buy the tickets?

In 1996 when we hosted the Africa Cup of Nations, all Bafana Bafana matches were sold out. Other matches were played in empty stadiums, especially in Port Elizabeth. Maybe at the time South Africans did not know what other African countries could offer in football.

But this time, with all the Confed fixtures looking tantalising enough, the story should be different.

Media coverage

With just five months to go, we need to jerk up the media coverage on the tournament. My own snap survey indicates that many South Africans do not know about the Confederations Cup. Some of those who have heard about it ask how the eight participants were “chosen”, while others think FIFA created it to give SA a drill.

Well, shedding more light on the tournament is that it is contested for by eight countries – six winners of the FIFA Confederations (continental regions), the current World Cup holders (Italy in this case) and the host nation (SA in this case).

Africa will have two teams, with Egypt coming in as continental champions. Other regional champions are Spain (Europe), Iraq (Asia), New Zealand (Oceania), Brazil (South America) and USA (North and Central Americas, including the Caribbean).

Iraq, SA’s opponent in the opening game on Sunday, June 14 at Coca Cola Park, will be making their debut. All other countries have played in the competition in the past. South Africa’s only appearance to date was in the 1997 edition, a fact not too many people still remember much about.

However, the most memorable thing about that sojourn in Saudi Arabia is that it cost Clive Barker his job. His principals at Safa had argued that 'The Dog' had no clear plan to rebuild Bafana Bafana after the success of 1996 Afcon.

By contrast, Joel Santana is set to keep his job, even if we lose to Iraq, NZ (June 17, Rustenburg) and Spain (June 20, Bloemfontein).

Good old Santana, he has revitalised the meaning of riding one’s luck.

Tumo writes exclusively for Sport24.

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