South Africans have been watching eagerly as the clock counts down the days until the World Cup but little attention or publicity has been given to another international football tournament the country will be hosting in 2010 probably because there aren’t any men playing.
South Africans have been watching eagerly as the clock counts down the days until the World Cup but little attention or publicity has been given to another international football tournament the country will be hosting in 2010 probably because there aren’t any men playing.
In October this year, South Africa will be play host to the Women’s African Cup of Nations, an established CAF tournament involving eight of Africa’s best teams.
Falling under the shadow of the World Cup, it is hardly any wonder that no one in the country has any idea of the event, but South Africans needs to question if, or when, women’s football in the country will ever take off.
Elsewhere in the world, countries like Germany who are hosting the next Fifa Women’s World Cup in 2011, US, Brazil, China and Nigeria have been grooming their national teams and encouraging development for the women’s game at almost every level.
When the US hosted the Women’s World Cup in 1999 and 2003, the stadiums were full near capacity and the country strongly supported their national team.
The final of the 1999 tournament, won by the host nation, was a milestone in the history of women’s sports, attracting worldwide interest and drawing more than 90 000 spectators to the Los Angeles stadium that day.
The US has since become the dominant force in the women’s game with many ascribing their success to the development invested in women’s football that was sparked by the US hosting the men’s World Cup tournament in 1994.
Along with this, the national football governing body, US Soccer has sought to promote the women’s game among young girls across the country, with an U15 national team even participating in international fixtures.
So far, there has been little to indicate that women’s football in South Africa will follow a similar trajectory after the World Cup in June especially since hardly anyone is aware of the major tournament taking place here less than three months later.
This is despite the very realistic chance that Banyana Banyana could win the tournament on home soil, and spark interest from both would-be players and sponsors.
Ranked second in Africa and 55th in the world, Banyana narrowly missed out on winning the previous tournament, losing to Equatorial Guinea in the final two years ago.
The team also boasts former Fifa World Player of the Year nominee, Portia Modise, who was also the winner of the African Cup of Nations Player of the Tournament award in 2006.
Another Banyana player, Noko Matlou made history last year when she became the first South African to scoop a major international footballing accolade when she won the CAF Women’s Footballer of the Year award.
In contrast, the men’s national team ranks a lowly 16th on the continent and 81st in the world, has never had a player nominated as a World Player of the Year or as African Player of the Year, and have failed to qualify for the men’s equivalent of the tournament that Banyana have been marked as the favourites to win.
Unless Safa takes a critical look at developing the women’s game, South African women interested in the game will be relegated to stadium seats as spectators rather than being on the field playing.
Given the potential Banyana have shown in establishing themselves as one of Africa’s best teams, however, maybe the powers that be are afraid that development will lead to the men’s team being outshone even more.
