Dejected South African fans as South Africa lose to Nigeria 3-1 and fail to qualify for the next round during the 2014 African Nations Championship match between South Africa and Nigeria at Cape Town Stadium on January 19, 2014 in Cape Town, South Africa. (Photo by Shaun Roy/Gallo Images)
If a sports team or individual is not playing well, the South African public will almost certainly let you know you are not up to scratch.
Bafana Bafana supporters are doing exactly that in the lead-up to Saturday’s 2018 World Cup qualifier against Burkina Faso at FNB Stadium.
On Tuesday, only 300 tickets had been sold for the mus-twin match for Stuart Baxter’s men. Yes, everyone is feeling the economic pinch, but there’s far more to the lack of ticket sales.
Bafana have endured a horrible qualifying campaign. Their sole qualifying victory against Senegal last year has been scrapped and ordered to be replayed next month after Fifa found Ghanaian referee Joseph Lamptey manipulated the match.
It leaves Bafana’s hopes of qualifying for Russia next year hanging by a thread, with only a single point – a draw against Burkina Faso in Ouagadougou a year ago – to show.
Their back-to-back losses to Cape Verde in September has put them in a horrible spot of bother.
FNB Stadium management said they would be happy with sales of 15 000 for the qualifier, and have already reduced the ticket price to entice fans to attend Saturday’s international and the Soweto derby between Kaizer Chiefs and Orlando Pirates later this month.
However, no amount of clever marketing will fool fans. Solid results puts bums on seats.
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