Football has lost its unifying charm

Last week, Zambia and Madagascar rightfully turned down an opportunity to face Bafana Bafana in a friendly match during the international break because of the spate of xenophobic attacks in the Southern tip of Africa.

The arrogance of South Africans has them thinking they don’t need other countries on the continent with some locals saying “foreigners” can boycott South Africa all they want because Mzansi has its own artists and football players so there is no need to welcome others from neighbouring countries.

Prominent members of the football fraternity have put their weight behind the efforts to defuse the attacks, but the situation continues to escalate.

The truth is, some of the leaders are not in touch with reality and have strayed too far for anyone to listen to them or listen to anything they have to say and to respect their views. They are no longer regarded as part of society because they no longer face the same challenges.

Football has lost its ability to unite the country. It has lost its way, lost its charm to hypnotise people into forgetting societal challenges for 90 minutes, get a reprieve from their lives and enjoy a game but that legacy has gone up in smoke.

Protests have never stood in the way of a football match taking place, but last week they did. Football kept all its good qualities. It got the rich and poor to forget there was still a need to speak about the social challenges, but now it has lost that charm.

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