Soccer in South Africa

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Football is one of the most popular sports in South Africa . While rugby and cricket rank first among the white population , soccer is the number one sport among the black population. South Africa hosted the 2010 World Cup .

history

British settlers brought football to South Africa around 1860 , first to the Cape Colony provinces of Port Elizabeth and Cape Town . The development of football was favored by the British soldiers stationed in South Africa. The first club, Pietermaritzburg County FC, was founded in 1879. On June 17, 1882 four clubs founded the Football Association of Natal (Natal Football Association), this is, with the Football Association of New South Wales ( Australia ) also founded that year , the first football association outside of Great Britain was formed. In the same year the first soccer competition was held on the African continent, the Natal Challenge Cup (winner: Natal Wasps FC Durban). In 1891 the first football league, the Senior League (winner: Royal Artillery Cape Town), was set up by the Football Association of the Western Cape Province (Western Province FA) . A year later, in 1892, the first national competition was launched. In Kimberley, in Griqualand West Province, the Currie Cup (named after the cup donor Sir Donald Currie) is being played for the first time. The selection teams from the various South African provinces took part (winner: Western Province).

Throughout the history of South African football, it can be stated that football has always been the sport of the black population, while the white upper class turned to rugby.

Association

In 1892 the South African Football Association (SAFA) was founded. In 1896 all South African provinces and their associations were members of the South African umbrella organization. The association, in which only whites were allowed to be represented, became a member of the English Football Association. When the South African Union was founded in 1910, SAFA became an independent member of FIFA . This membership lasted until 1926. The trigger for the resignation was the British protest against FIFA policy, on the basis of which all British associations resigned from FIFA; In 1952 South Africa returned to FIFA. When the South African Soccer Federation, which was open to all sections of the population, soon became a rival association to the SAFA, a top-class FIFA delegation headed by Karel Lotsys spoke out in favor of the apartheid- supporting SAFA and against the SASF in early 1956 to promote the principle of “One Country, an association ”and with the strange reason that the SASF does not cover the South African football because no white clubs are represented. On July 16, 1976, the SAFA was excluded again after South Africa had been suspended in 1964 because of its racial policy. In 1970, the Football Association of South Africa (FASA) was founded as a competitive association to represent the interests of the black majority. In 1992 South Africa was re-accepted into FIFA and in 1994 the two “white” and “black” associations were officially merged.

National team

See main article: South African National Football Team .

As early as 1906, the South African selection toured South America and played games in Brazil , Uruguay and Argentina . Some of the matches were games against national teams (e.g. league selection, regional selection), but these countries never played them as official international matches. The first official international match took place on November 2, 1924 in Amsterdam against the Netherlands . The hosts won 2-1. After the end of apartheid and the renewed membership in FIFA , the South African national team restarted on July 7, 1992 . In Durban was Cameroon 1: 0 defeated.

The team's nickname and battle cry is Bafana Bafana . This is the Zulu term for "green boy". The term was coined by the journalist of the Sowetan Newspaper, S'bu Mseleku, on the occasion of the international match against Cameroon in 1992 and alluded to the inexperience of the team at the time.

There has also been a women's national team since the early 1990s .

successes

The South African national team is one of the best on the continent. Soon after the rebuilding, the team was able to achieve great success in international football:

In 1996 South Africa reached 16th place, the highest ever position in the FIFA world rankings . However, the national team has stagnated since 2002, and in some cases the development has even declined. South Africa could not qualify for the 2006 World Cup .

Organizer of the 2010 World Cup

See main article Soccer World Cup 2010 .

The 19th soccer world championship was held from June 11th to July 11th 2010 in South Africa. South Africa hoped that this would boost both sporting and economic development. With a view to the World Cup, the Brazilian Carlos Alberto Parreira was signed as coach .

Club soccer

Premier Soccer League

See main article: Premier Soccer League .

There has always been a large number of regional cup competitions in South Africa, which has been preserved to this day. A championship was introduced in 1959 with the National Professional Football League (NPFL, later NFL). Only "white" teams were allowed to take part in this professional league. In 1971 the National Professional Soccer League (NPSL), as a "non-white" league, was founded as a counterpoint. After South Africa was isolated from international football in 1976, considerations began as to how "white" and "black" players could be brought together. In September 1976 the South African Sports Council decided to integrate three players of the "other race" into the teams. This concept of the so-called multinational sport also allowed these teams to play against each other. The NFL was carried out until 1977, partly parallel to the NPSL Castle League founded in 1971. This existed until 1984 and was continued from 1985 as the National Soccer League or NSL Castle League. The clubs have been playing in the NSL Castle Premiership since 1996.

There are currently sixteen teams playing in the top division, the ABSA Premiership. The underlying National First Division also consists of sixteen clubs. The third class, the Second Division (SAFA Vodacom Promotional League), is divided into nine regional leagues. The third division (SAFA Castle Regional League) is played in 25 regional leagues. The fourth division functions as the championship system in the districts.

Master:

In 2001 a women's play class was introduced. There are nine regional leagues. The master is determined in a tournament of the regional winners.

International club football

The club teams of South Africa have been taking part in the international club competitions of the African Football Association since 1993 . In 1995 the Orlando Pirates and in 2016 the Mamelodi Sundowns won the CAF Champions League and the CAF Super Cup, respectively. In 2001 the Kaizer Chiefs won the African Cup Winners' Cup .

The mass panic at Ellis Park Stadium on April 11, 2001

On April 11, 2001, the game of the two most popular teams, the Kaizer Chiefs and the Orlando Pirates in the Ellis Park Stadium in Johannesburg caused a mass panic when a grandstand collapsed in the completely overcrowded venue and 43 people were killed. The reason was that there was no advance booking and too many people had come to the stadium. Without further ado, some files were removed from the stadium to act as a guide in the parking lot. As a result, the crowds could get into the stadium uncontrollably until this tragedy finally occurred.

literature

  • Thami Mazwai, S'Busiso Mseleku: Thirty years of South African soccer . Mafube 2003, ISBN 0624041077
  • Peter Alegi: Laduma! Soccer, Politics and Society in South Africa . University of Kwazulu Natal Press, Scottsville 2004, ISBN 1869140400

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ ballesterer fm World Cup special edition No. 53 2010 p. 34 Football under apartheid
  2. ^ Paul Dietschy / David-Claude Kemo-Keimbou (co-editors: FIFA): Le football et l'Afrique. EPA, supra 2008 ISBN 978-2-85120-674-9 , pp. 217-220
  3. ↑ ballesterer fm, WM special edition, No. 53,2010