SAFA vice-president Bennett Bailey has admitted that South African football is dealing with a problem of short-termism.
In an interview with KickOff, the deputy chief of South African football's organising body has revealed some of the struggles that has hampered the game's development in the country.
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Many have often questioned why a significant number of other African countries have more players representing clubs abroad than Mzansi, despite the fact that South Africa is among the most well-resourced nations on the continent. Some have argued that local stars are not hungry or ambitious enough to make that leap, while a more pessimistic view has been simply a shortage of top-class talent.
Sinesipho Mali, a SAFA scout and performance analyst, said earlier this year it that there was no lack of talent but instead it is a case that players who come from the west African region are often more motivated because of the rough living conditions they grow up in, essentially forcing youngsters to make the big jump to countries such as France in their teenage years.
A 2022 study by the CIES Football Observatory revealed that South Africa is ranked only 12th in Africa in terms of exporting players abroad, with the top five spots held by Nigeria, Ghana, Ivory Coast, Senegal, and Cameroon.
SAFA vice-president Bailey believes there are other factors that come into play, including the football culture, explaining that in many of these CAF countries, football stadiums are located in the heart of ordinary communities, thus allowing locals to part of the development of the sport.
Bailey, who has decades of experience in football administration, also admitted that the eagerness for quick success in SA has stifled the fundamental growth soccer in Mzansi, with the chopping and changing of managers and staff having an undeniable long-term effect on the state of football in the game today.
"It's always this race to achieve. They are always in a hurry and want to get to the top quickly," the SAFA executive committee member told KickOff.
"They do not realise that there are building blocks in place. If you take Stellenbosch FC, for an example; how long has their coach [Steve Barker] been there?
"He's been there for a long time, and look at that team perform.
"One day, I called him wanting two players [for the youth national teams], he said to me: 'You know what, Mr President? The national team is our first priority.'
"He said that in the two players' positions they did not have any reserves, but they released them nonetheless.
"I think another thing to note is that we have one of the youngest democracies in the world and we want to catch up with the rest of the world too quickly. In doing so, we forget the steps that we need to first take.
"My advice is that if you have invested in a coach, trust them!"
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