Ehrenreich tackles Bafana
First he tackled the Springboks for a lack of transformation, now Tony Ehrenreich is crying foul over Bafana Bafana.
|||First he tackled the Springboks for a lack of transformation, now Tony Ehrenreich is crying foul over Bafana Bafana.
Cosatu’s Western Cape secretary has red-carded the national soccer team after their humiliating 3-1 loss against 114th-ranked Mauritania in an Afcon Cup qualifier on Saturday.
He called the team management a “disaster” and says Bafana needs a “lekker mixed masala” squad to start winning games in Group M.
Ehrenreich says to the Daily Voice: “I blame this disaster on the team’s management.
“There is no colour there. No white and no coloured. Just one white player and three coloureds. The other 21 players are all African. It has been proven that mixed is better.
“We need a lekker mixed masala, not just the darker spices, but all blends.”
Last month the union body boss sparked a transformation storm after a Springbok team fielding just three players of colour lost 25-37 to Argentina.
Now he is striking out at all sports bosses.
“The [Bafana] management needs to take notes,” he says.
“We need transformation to happen in all our sport, so the teams are always representative of our nation or they will never win.”
And he explains that transformation in soccer has to start at “white schools”.
“The larney white schools only promote rugby and cricket. The schools have not been all white for many years,” says Ehrenreich.
“There are students of colour present in all those previously white schools, but schools like Westerford do not promote football.
“Our kids need a place to train. Grounds need to be adequate for their development.”
And the South African Football Association (Safa) agrees with Ehrenreich.
Safa spokesperson Dominic Chimhavi says: “The issue of colour in South African football should be addressed at school level. It’s the schools that are letting us down.
“White boys at those previously Model C schools are not encouraged to play the sport.
“They are encouraged to play cricket and rugby.
“Safa has requested that football be promoted as part of the curriculum and this will allow all those really good players of any colour to filter through into the game we all love.” - Daily Voice