EDITORIAL | Now that SA is back in the game, the real test begins

On Tuesday SA sports fans could finally do what many love most. Waiting for this moment for more than a year and a half, a total of 2,000 jovial Bafana Bafana supporters, bearing colourful sport regalia, descended on FNB Stadium in Soweto to experience a World Cup qualifier game against Ethiopia first-hand. They appeared to be only a handful, almost swallowed up in Soccer City’s 90,000-plus capacity, but it was a huge milestone, thanks to an amendment to the Disaster Management Act allowing for vaccinated spectators at sporting venues. 

Last night was the first test to see if this could work. The new rules will also be tried out by SA Rugby, whose administrators are aiming at getting fans to the Champions Match on November 6 where the Currie Cup XV will face off against Kenya. “This is the light at the end of the tunnel that our sport has desperately needed,” said SA Rugby CEO Jurie Roux, whose sporting body has gone through countless Covid-19 ordeals, including infections among players ahead of crucial matches, the uncertainties that plagued the British and Irish Lions tour and massive revenue losses since the virus emptied stadiums.

During a public hearing in January on Icasa’s proposal to limit broadcast rights and no longer permit exclusive deals, Roux spoke of desperate times. SA Rugby magazine quoted him as saying: “Covid has pushed us into survival mode and had a massive detrimental effect. We’ve had to cut our budget by R1.2bn. It has made insolvency a real and present danger. We’re on the brink, and if we had not been able to capitalise on broadcast rights, we would have been bankrupt by now.”

The SA Football Association’s Danny Jordaan has faced his own pandemic battles, including SA’s now lost hopes to take over as hosts for the Fifa Club World Cup in December. Japan pulled out because of Covid-19, and SA raised its hand. But the UK’s initial decision to keep our country on its traveller red list complicated matters for the seven-team tournament. “Another issue is the low vaccinations rate and the fact that we still don’t have spectators in the stadium – Fifa have said ‘go and solve this problem and then come talk to us’, so that is a big issue in our way. They are not sporting issues, there’s nothing we can do (government makes the decision). The tournament is in December and that is why we have to meet with the government to understand the timeline,” Jordaan told Soccer Laduma in September. In the end, Safa had no choice but to decide against pursuing the bid to host the Fifa Club World Cup.

Since then, the SA government (and the UK) have come to the party. Local restrictions were loosened and the UK removed us from the dreaded list. Covid-19 infections are down, with some even speculating we might be inching closer to herd immunity. It is too late for the Fifa Club World Cup but local fans who can prove their vaccination status are now getting a bite at the live sports cherry.

It is a gift that has been handed to South Africans and should be handled with care. Entry rules last night were strict and those applying for tickets online had to provide their ID numbers and vaccination codes before being allowed into the event. Now is the time to behave. Already last night, a few dozen of fans demanded entry to the Bafana match without securing online tickets. Police and security officials had to negotiate with the crowd. 

The public’s actions will either build up or knock down the future of sporting events in SA. If South Africans do not play ball, do not get vaccinated and do not follow the rules, the light at the end of the tunnel will dim very quickly.