Confed Cup: It’s do or die

WITH the Confederations Cup in full swing, South Africa risks coming up short both on and off the pitch.

Bafana Bafana face New Zealand in a do-or-die battle tonight.

Though the team’s performance on the pitch has been less than sterling, South Africa has hardly been burnishing its image as the host country.

The tournament has been marred by embarrassingly empty stadiums, wage disputes in which ushers abandoned a game at the 11th hour, poor organisation of parking, and a report of an international journalist being “mugged” by police officers.

Mike Collett , football editor for news service Reuters, wrote on his blog yesterday that he was threatened by two policemen who demanded bribes in foreign currency.

“I was effectively ‘mugged’ by two uniformed police officers who demanded ‘pounds or dollars’ before they would let me go on my way. In the end I handed over about £15 ,” Collett wrote.

He was allegedly pulled over by the police near Sandton City, north of Johannesburg, after covering the poorly attended Spain vs New Zealand match in Rustenburg, in North West, on Sunday.

After asking if he had been drinking, the police officers then proceeded to provide the writer with directions to his hotel, which he did not ask for. “After giving me directions [the policemen] asked me for their money” in a “threatening manner”.

Collett said the policemen were very specific about what currency they preferred: “Where are our dollars or pounds, sir?”

“I gave them their cash and they let me go,” Collett wrote.

Police were unaware of the incident and urged Collett to report the matter for investigation.

But national police spokesman Superintendent Lindela Mashigo said: “If the report is true, it is totally unacceptable, regardless of whether it was SAPS or Metro cops.”

Now, after Fifa president Sepp Blatter criticised the local organising committee for not doing enough to fill stadiums on Monday, officials are desperate to get fans to games — with at least one official speculating that free tickets might be handed out.

Blatter’s comments came after the second match of the tournament featuring top-ranking team Spain against New Zealand, which was played at the sparsely filled stadium in Rustenburg on Sunday. Only 21000 fans turned up at the 42000-seat stadium.

Fifa spokesman Wolfgang Eichler told The Times yesterday: “Fifa and the organising committee are looking into measures that will ensure that [Sunday’s low attendance] does not happen again.”

He did not address the earlier suggestion, from another Fifa official, Nicolas Maingot, that tickets should be given away.

“There are ongoing discussions but we cannot speculate on how [low spectators numbers] will be resolved,” Eichler said.

Eichler added, however, that: “The average number of spectators per game is satisfactory.

“The number is normal for the Confederations Cup and the average attendance in South Africa, after four matches, is 33170 people. France’s average was 37694 [in the 1997 Confederations Cup] and Germany’s was 37310 [in 2005].”

There have also been reports that stewards hired to work during a Confederations Cup match in Pretoria failed to show because of a pay dispute with their employer, leaving police to check tickets at the turnstiles.

Local organising committee spokesman Rich Mkhondo said: “Everything is on track and we are happy with the way things are going. Attendance has been fantastic and we have been having a true rainbow nation at the venues.

“We have no doubt this is going to be the best-ever Confederations Cup.”

He added that though Fifa, together with the local organising committee, were holding discussions on how to improve match attendance, he knew nothing about reports that tickets might be given away to poor South Africans.

“We still urge South Africans to support the Confederations Cup because it might never return to the country ,” said Mkhondo.

He said that the pay dispute involving stewards had been resolved.

“There was a pay dispute between employer and employee, but that issue has since been resolved. You are going to see police, volunteers and stewards working hand-in-hand in all the venues. We are happy with our security arrangements,” said Mkhondo.

Another major hiccup at recent matches was a flawed park-and-ride system in Johannesburg for Sunday’s opening ceremony.

The Wits University park-and-ride venue was chaotic as 3000 vehicles arrived, while only 1700 could be accommodated. The system is aimed at easing traffic congestion around stadiums.

A reader told The Times that the experience was a “mess”.

“It took us about an hour and a half from the Jan Smuts and Jorrisen streets intersection to get into the parking [at Wits]. When we got there, the entrance was chaotic and we were let in without paying . Attendants were standing with wads of cash in their hands, but could not cope with the pressure.”

City of Johannesburg’s director of transportation Yolisa Mashilwane admitted there were more vehicles than expected at the venue.

She said: “There have been lessons learnt and we are busy refining some operational issues.”