Sports
Bell Tolls For S’Africa’s Football
South African football
is on a downward slide that will be difficult to arrest if the country does not address its failings across all levels of the sport.
That is the warning coming from experienced and respected voices within the game in South Africa – and the message is also echoed by some of the country’s brightest hopes on the pitch.
South Africa will not be at this year’s World Cup finals in Brazil, whose national team reinforced the inadequacies of the current Bafana Bafana side when they thrashed them 5-0 in a friendly in Johannesburg on 5 March.
That defeat felt like a truer representation of where Gordon Igesund’s team are at the moment, rather than their 1-0 victory over reigning world champions Spain in a friendly in November – a victory that was seemingly no more than an anomaly.
In the last decade there have been no signs of a return to the form that secured South Africa the 1996 Africa Cup of Nations, a runners-up finish in 1998 and third place in 2000.
Since then, they reached the quarter-finals only twice – and it was viewed as a massive when disappointment when they went out at that stage as hosts of last year’s edition – and failed to qualify at all in 2010 and 2012.
Add to that a single World Cup finals appearance since 2002 – as hosts in 2010 – and the statistics make for grim reading.
Former Bafana Bafana goalkeeper Hans Vonk believes that the underlying reasons run deep.
“Back in 1998 South Africa had a great team but it wasn’t part of a bigger plan,” said Vonk.
“There is a lack of quality coaches in South Africa, so a lot of talented young players fail to be recognised and they don’t have enough guidance to reach top level.
“All in all, the structure is not there. In the top flight, the Premier League, there are good coaches but there is nothing underneath the surface,” added Vonk, who was capped 43 times by South Africa between 1997 and 2005.
“If you compare with Brazil, for instance, they seem to be able to develop good street footballers from favelas but South Africa does not. You have to ask yourself why it isn’t possible for young South Africans to enter into national youth programmes.
“Professional football at the highest level doesn’t guarantee an inflow of youngsters up to the highest level. In South Africa they have tried to import knowledge from abroad but they harbour suspicions against input from foreign coaches.”
It is a view that is shared by former Ajax Cape Town coach Foppe de Haan, who is also worried about the future of the South African Premier League.
“The rejuvenation of the teams in the competition is not there; the average age of players in the Premier Soccer League is really high and clubs tend to make use of old, physically strong footballers in the competition,” he said.
In August 1996 South Africa were 16th in Fifa’s world rankings, they currently sit in 54th place
“While rugby is part of South African schools, football is most often taught by committed teachers with no football background. South Africa Football Association President Danny Jordaan already mentioned a youth league would increase the quality at senior level in the long run, and I can only back this up.
“I’ve tried to teach the players to play modern football instead of classical kick and rush and in the end it paid off, which proves South African footballers do have the capabilities to play modern football.
“If you want to improve the level, you need quality coaches; therefore you need to school them as well.”
The problem with coaching at grass roots level and the fact that the current crop of top-flight players and Bafana Bafana internationals aren’t considered up to the required standard means the situation may well feel bleak to fans in South Africa.
But Ajax and Bafana Bafana midfielder Thulani Serero is optimistic that the talent is coming through and feels it simply needs to be harnessed and nurtured.
“They definitely should create more programs with showcases and tournaments that could be held in schools. I’ve seen players out there that are good enough.”
However, Serero’s attitude towards outside influences, “we don’t need foreign involvement and instead should rely on our own vision and thoughts on football”, appears to back up Vonk’s claim that the football mentality in South Africa is an insular one.
It is an opinion that strikes an odd chord given Serero plays his football in Netherlands, and also when you look at South Africa’s fall from being one of the continent’s heavyweights to the 12th best in Africa, according to Fifa’s rankings for March.
While South Africa’s football philosophy faulters, Serrero and another of South Africa’s brightest talents, Kamohelo Mokotjo, are thriving with Dutch sides.
And PEC Zwolle defensive midfielder Mokotjo, who is currently topping the polls for the Eredivisie Player of the Year award, hinted that the environment in South Africa is not beneficial for players learning their craft.
“Back in the day South African footballers were really humble and knew their tasks. On the pitch you wanted to play for each other; there was cohesion,” said the 22-year-old.
“Now there is no game plan and no vision. All the lines are now working separately from each other.”
Yet Mokotjo is hopeful that attitudes will change and South Africa will find their way back to right path.
“Sticking together is the best remedy for now. We have a new generation of football players and it’s about how you put all the pieces of the puzzle together. That’s going to make a difference,” he said.
It is a puzzle that may take a long time to solve.
Ian Hughes & Pieter Stroink van Eizenga writes for BBC Sport.
Ian Hughes & Pieter Stroink van Eizenga
Nigerian football fans and former internationals may have finally joined the call on President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to save Nigerian football from the grip of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF), demanding a complete overhaul and the resignation of the board following a series of national-team heartbreaks, including the Super Eagles’ failure to qualify for the 2026 FIFA World Cup, their second consecutive absence and the Super Falcons’ recent loss of an automatic qualification spot for the 2027 FIFA Women’s World Cup in Brazil.
Until now, football legend Segun Odegbami has been a lone voice in the vanguard of those calling on the Ibrahim Gusau-led NFF board to step aside. However, many ex-internationals, angered that the national embarrassment has now spilled over to the women’s team, have joined the call to “save our football.”
“We are demanding a total systemic clear-out and consequences at every tier of Nigerian football,” one of the former players said yesterday, pleading to remain anonymous to avoid “arrows” from what he described as desperate officials holding Nigerian football by the jugular.
Ahead of the September 27, 2026 elective congress of the NFF, scheduled to hold in Lafia, Nasarawa State, Chairman of the Advocacy for Nigeria Football Reforms Initiative, Prince Harrison Jalla, has also painted a gloomy picture of the future of Nigerian football.
Jalla’s position is in tandem with that of some aspirants who are also crying blue murder, alleging that the electoral procedure is skewed in favour of incumbent NFF President Ibrahim Musa Gusau to secure a smooth passage to a second term unopposed.
Jalla insisted that “all indicators are pointing to a gloomy picture for the future of Nigerian football, mainly due to administrative ineptitude, while the gladiators remain engrossed and fixated on the election.”
“The major crux of the election is the guidelines, which make it very difficult for other candidates to secure endorsements from across the six geopolitical zones to challenge Gusau.
“The NFF elective congress creates a skewed voting structure because [certain blocs] hold an overwhelming majority of the voting power, which critics argue marginalises key football stakeholders such as club owners, players, coaches, referees and sports writers.
“Out of the total delegates and voting structure, the 37 State FA chairmen form the primary voting bloc, making it difficult for independent candidates to win.
“This is so because of the marriage between the FA chairmen and the NFF. Most FA chairmen depend solely on the Federation for favours. Over time, during national and international engagements, the NFF uses such opportunities to reward the FA chairmen with trips and estacodes.
“They have been so compromised that no Jupiter would make them see reasons for a change. The system, therefore, heavily favours the incumbent leadership seeking re-election. That explains why they were in a hurry to pass a vote of confidence in the NFF leadership even when Nigerian football became topsy-turvy.
“As desperation has beclouded their reasoning, they have forgotten how low they have dragged Nigerian football.”
A cursory look at the catalogue of failures by Nigeria’s national teams will reveal this;
Super Eagles (Senior Men): Failed to qualify for the 2026 FIFA World Cup. Their campaign ended in agonising fashion in November 2025 during the CAF playoff final, when they lost 4–3 on penalties to DR Congo. This marked the second consecutive World Cup missed by the senior national team. Earlier, in January 2026, they were also eliminated from the 2025 AFCON via a penalty shootout.
Super Falcons (Senior Women): Suffered an early continental exit by losing 1–0 to Cameroon in the 2026 WAFCON quarter-finals. The defeat stripped them of an automatic ticket to the 2027 FIFA Women’s World Cup in Brazil, forcing them into an inter-confederation playoff route. Worse still, Banyana Banyana of South Africa stopped the Super Falcons with a 2-1 defeat in Morocco, marking Nigeria’s worst outing in the history of WAFCON.
Golden Eaglets (Men’s U-17): Failed to qualify for the U-17 AFCON and subsequently missed out on three consecutive FIFA U-17 World Cups — 2023, 2025 and 2026.
Flying Eagles (Men’s U-20): Missed both the 2026 U-20 AFCON and the FIFA U-20 World Cup.
Olympic Team (Men’s U-23): Failed to qualify for the 2023 U-23 AFCON, which directly resulted in their failure to qualify for the 2024 Paris Olympic Games.
An official NFF apology to the government and Nigerians was met with backlash, with fans dismissing it as “too little, too late” and “one apology too many”, while demanding actual resignations.
The current frustration among fans stems from what they regard as an unprecedented catalogue of systemic failures across all tiers of Nigeria’s national teams.
Segun Odegbami said the failures had become one too many.
“If you fail to take your team to the World Cup, you find out that more often than not, they vote you out or sack you.
“That’s the measure. If you have a coach who doesn’t do well, they sack him. If you have a player who is doing badly, you remove him.”
“These guys have not succeeded. They’re our friends; that’s the painful thing. We know ourselves. We are all in the business and, when we champion the fact that they should go, they make you an enemy.
“It’s not a personalised thing. They have failed and, if we go back to that route, we are going to fail as we have failed before,” he said.
The financial damage from missing recent major tournaments is equally devastating, with total losses estimated at between ?150 billion and ?300 billion in direct payouts and broader economic partnerships.
This continuous string of qualification failures has effectively choked off the federation’s primary revenue pipelines and left its local development initiatives starved of funds.
The economic wreckage breaks down across several critical areas. By failing to reach the expanded World Cup, the NFF forfeited a guaranteed baseline participation fee of $10.5 million, reportedly worth roughly ?15.5 billion.
This single tournament loss wiped out an amount equivalent to roughly 87 per cent of the NFF’s projected annual operational budget. Had the Super Eagles advanced beyond the group stage, the rewards would have risen above $12 million, while reaching the quarter-finals could have yielded up to $20 million in performance-related payments.
Early exits by the Super Falcons and the qualification failures of the youth teams, U-17, U-20 and U-23, mean the NFF has also missed out on vital developmental subsidies and travel grants normally provided by continental governing bodies.
Corporate organisations and major sports betting companies are scaling back their sponsorship valuations. Without global television exposure, the NFF cannot command premium rates for brand placement.
The federation also misses out on potential revenue from global jersey sales, training gear and licensed supporter memorabilia that normally spike around major tournaments.
By missing out on tournament participation, Nigeria also loses leverage to draw heavily from FIFA’s financial programmes aimed at upgrading domestic training academies and pitches.
Consecutive missed World Cups have further lowered the market value of the national team brand, making future broadcast and marketing rights significantly harder to sell at a premium.
Former Ajax midfielder Hedwiges Maduro has praised Nigerian striker Tolu Arokodare, highlighting the forward’s strength and power and suggesting that he could prove valuable to Ajax in the Eredivisie.
Arokodare joined Ajax from Wolverhampton Wanderers on a season-long loan in July, with the Dutch club holding an option to make the move permanent.
He has already made an impact for his new side, providing an assist in Ajax’s 2-0 victory over PEC Zwolle in their opening Eredivisie fixture.
Maduro discussed Arokodare’s qualities during an appearance on ESPN’s Voetbalpraat, where he assessed how the Nigerian could complement Ajax’s attacking options.
He sees Arokodare as offering a different profile to Marcos Leonardo, particularly against opponents who defend deep and limit the space available for attacking runs.
Speaking about the Nigerian striker, Maduro highlighted his physical qualities and explained why he believes they could make him a valuable option for Ajax in the Dutch top flight.
“I think Tolu has something special, in terms of strength and power. I think he can be of real value in the Eredivisie,” Maduro said, as quoted by Ajax Showtime.
According to Maduro, the tactical demands of certain matches could make Arokodare’s physical presence an important option for Ajax, especially when opponents retreat towards their own penalty area.
He contrasted the situation with Leonardo, who he believes benefits from having space to make attacking runs. Maduro explained that when teams defend deep, those spaces become more difficult to find.
“Leonardo needs space. If teams drop back completely, where are you going to make those runs?
Then you get more use out of Tolu as a focal point to drop the ball,” he added.
The Chairman of the Local Organizing Committee, LOC, of the Arsenal Nigeria Converge 2026, Ugochukwu Oputa, has said that over 25 states across Nigeria were involved in the second edition of the Arsenal Converge scheduled for Port Harcourt from August 14 to 16, 2026.
Oputa disclosed this on Sunday after the Converge meeting at the Ediz Wine Bar in Port Harcourt, Rivers State.
According to him, Arsenal’s popularity cuts across the nation, and the Converge is organized to provide a period for supporters to network, interact, and harmonize.
“Knowing how Arsenal’s popularity is spread across the nation, it became necessary that all the different supporters of Arsenal club across the country harmonize and create a particular period where we can meet, network and interact,” Oputa said.
He outlined the five-day schedule of activities to include
Press conference,
Environmental sanitation and community service at Mile 1 Market, Diobu, involving both visitors and residents, arrival, welcome and cocktail party. Others included Games Day, football competition and other fun activities at the Rivers State University football pitch, Community Shield watch party yesterday, where all Arsenal supporters’ groups met, interacted, and discussed the future of Arsenal, including plans for the 2027 hosting rights of the Converge.
Oputa added that this year’s Converge which was in Port Harcourt, had over 3,000 fans registered.
“Port Harcourt Arsenal Community is a recognized supporters’ club of Arsenal in London and we have over 25 states that participated in the Arsenal Nigeria Converge 2026,” he said.
Also speaking, a member of the Nigeria Arsenal Supporters Working Committee, Nsikak Ntia, said that what distinguishes Arsenal supporters is their offline community impact.
“What we are doing here in Port Harcourt is beyond football. It’s a family that is growing. We had over 3,000 to 4,000 people on Saturday at the Rivers State University that shared the confidence that Arsenal represents,” Ntia said.
He noted that the club’s motto, ‘Victoria Concordia Crescit’ – ‘Victory Through Harmony’ – is the bedrock of the group.
“The work that we do at Mile 1 Market is to help with environmental protection and increase what we do in society.
“We also have future plans to promote environmental protection and better ways to handle waste.
“These are things that are germane for our future, the future of our young people and generations unborn.
” It goes beyond football, it goes beyond banter, it goes beyond yapping at each other.
“That is what Arsenal Football Club is all about. Arsenal has the most well-organized supporters’ club in Nigeria and Africa’ he sated.