Safa need Zambian tutelage

Non-apologisers go far in life. These Teflon dons delegate accountability for their balls-ups, a valuable skill that helps them levitate up the hierarchies of power like so many Armani-suited fakirs. But since many non-apologisers are also non-excellent, they soon rise above their competence and find themselves in a fix where apology is the only solution.

This was the problem facing former Safa CEO Leslie Sedibe last week. Under his watch, Safa outsourced the arrangement of Bafana's last flurry of pre-World Cup friendlies to a Singaporean crook, who hired rotten referees to make a mint with Southeast Asian bookies.

But Sedibe is still outsourcing: in response to the Sunday Times questions about the scandal, he blamed an underling, Ace Kika, who promptly passed the buck straight back, denying any direct dealings with Wilson Raj Perumal.

It doesn't matter whether or not Sedibe met Perumal: either way, he is inescapably accountable for the contamination of Bafana and South Africa's reputation.

This story has been simmering and bubbling for months - the friendlies have been among a raft of dodgy games under Fifa investigation. Sedibe and his former lieutenants must have been hoping the matter would go away. Unfortunately, the Zimbabwe match-fixing crisis has put it back on the boil.

The kind of leader South African football needs would long ago have grown a pair and issued a frank statement expressing some variation on the following gist: "We screwed up. And to be more accurate, I screwed up because I was the boss. Sorry."

Sadly, those words don't appear in the Safa communications manual.

But enough of this dismal business. The urgent question is whether Sedibe's successor, Robin Peterson, will serve up a proper calendar of friendlies ahead of Bafana's hosting of next year's Nations Cup. The superb form of Gabon at this tournament showed that a host team can be properly prepared with an intensive warm-up programme.

Yesterday's announcement of the Senegal fixture is a decent start, but more firm dates with quality opponents are needed sharpish.

In the meantime, many Bafana fans are happily outsourcing their patriotic love to the mighty Chipolopolo, who have rescued the bruised football dignity of Southern Africa by advancing to the semifinals of this Nations Cup. Make no mistake: the Zambians have the talent, cohesion, spirit and discipline to knock out Ghana in tomorrow night's semifinal.

The delirious Zambian celebrations after the crushing of Sudan offered a bitter-sweet spectacle to South African eyes. It stings to consider that Bafana haven't enjoyed that semifinal rush for 12 years. It stings to be so outshone by this small, feisty football nation, blessed with only a quarter of South Africa's population and a fraction of our wealth.

Perhaps Safa's executive should receive scholarships to a football administration boot camp deep in the Zambian bush where they could hunt for their dinners and receive seminars on responsible leadership from FAZ president Kalusha Bwalya and his colleagues.