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South Africa mulls `nationalizing' its World Cup squad

A government plan to nationalize South Africa's ailing soccer team in a bid to avoid embarrassment during the 2010 World Cup has angered soccer bosses and players who warned it could backfire.

"It's going to be very difficult for clubs to release players for such a long time frame [from now to the Cup]," said Brian Sebapole, a former national player and an executive in the Professional Players Union.

"Clubs have made huge investments, paid money to get the players. The plan is experimental and highly risky and may backfire. No one will want to sacrifice his [club] salary for two years," he said.

Sports Minister Makhenkesi Stofile proposed this week that the country's top 50 players be contracted to the government for two years so that a winning team can be nurtured ahead of South Africa hosting the 2010 soccer spectacular -- the first to be held on the continent.

"We'll contract the players and tell the coach: `Here, work with them'. They won't play for their [domestic and international] clubs for two years and will be preparing only for the World Cup soccer tournament," Stofile told parliament. "We have to prevent them [the team] from embarrassing us."

Sebapole said players may well be excited to represent their national team in the first World Cup on home soil, but would need some convincing.

"Players may not want to be part of the plan if they are not assured of being featured in the first 22," he said.

The national squad, Bafana Bafana (Zulu for "boys") has had a series of bad results, including a first-round exit from the Africa Nations Cup in Ghana last month.

The team lies 71st on the ranking of world soccer body FIFA, despite acquiring the services of Brazil's 2006 World Cup-winning coach, Carlos Alberto Parreira, at a domestic record 1.8 million rand (US$227,000) a month.

Stofile said top players should be placed under government contract, paid monthly allowances and play regular practice matches against local clubs.

Sebapole said a one-year period may be more realistic for clubs to "be patriotic and release players."

Irvin Khoza, South Africa's Premier Soccer League (PSL) chairman and owner of the Orlando Pirates club, said commercial interests were at stake.

"While we agree that something needs to be done about our national team, the issue has not been made official to us.

"It is a delicate issue because it affects sponsors, broadcasters, clubs, players. There are breach [of agreement] issues," Khoza said, adding the PSL was considering proposals for Parreira to be allowed to assemble players four months before the 2010 kick-off.

"It's going to be very difficult because you actually say for example, Benni McCarthy should not be available for his club, which is paying him huge amounts of money, for two years," Jomo Cosmos club boss Jomo Sono said. "You are saying clubs ... should suffer for two years without their best players."
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