Bafana Bafana
Bafana need 'talent pipeline'
2011-11-08 14:24
Parliament - The key to making Bafana Bafana a winning team is a "sustained focus" on development, MPs heard on Tuesday.
SA Football Association (SAFA) chief executive Robin Petersen told Parliament's portfolio committee on sport that South Africa's national team needed a pipeline of talent to be successful.
"We should have this development pipeline full of talent. We need to drive it even harder."
Petersen said Bafana Bafana's immediate goal was to win its qualifiers for the 2014 Soccer World Cup in Brazil.
A series of competitive friendlies had been arranged to ensure that the team continued to rise in Fifa rankings and achieved a seeding in international tournaments.
The first match would be played against Africa's top-rated side, Ivory Coast, at the weekend, he said.
"We have commitment, we have a plan and we are implementing that plan."
Petersen said SAFA had not understood a rule that caused it to fail to qualify for the 2012 Africa Nations Cup, to be held in South Africa.
"We didn't understand that rule properly and that was to serious detriment."
He said SAFA had taken collective responsibility for the failure to qualify, and had decided not to fire people.