The tug of war between Bafana Bafana and Ghana is far from over and FIFA is now involved. The fans, however, blame SAFA for “gas lighting the nation” with the press conference they held on Wednesday.
On Wednesday 17 November, the South African Football Association held a press conference where they were addressing the nation on what transpired in Ghana and they also invited former FIFA referee Ace Ngcobo to give full analysis on the referee’s performance.
Though SAFA’s main aim was to be transparent and inform the nation about what steps they are taking and why they are going that route, many fans didn’t receive that well and rather blamed the federation stating that the press conference made things worse.
Right right, evidence from you. These officials from SAFA are shifting the blame for the fact that they didn't qualify for the game was manipulated, do not be deceived, this case will go nowhere. It's not about talking but proving with concrete evidence. Ghana has a good vibe..
— Theo (@cfc5050) November 18, 2021
Speaking on a Twitter space on Thursday evening, a group of both South African and Ghanaian fans believe SAFA were emotional in handling the situation and they didn’t go about it the right way, but rather gas lit the nation.
They believe SAFA should’ve calmed the situation “professionally” and not call young players who ended up crying on national television and said all the things they said, which caused more emotions amongst Bafana Bafana’s supporters. They also stated that this whole fiasco will now move on to the CAF Champions League and it will become a hostile event whenever the two nations meet in a football in future.
Ghana responded to SAFA on Thursday and many South Africans were unhappy with the response and voiced out their frustrations towards the Ghanian FA, with others pulling old videos of matches played in the Ghanaian Football League. One video in particular, displaying one of the most deliberate own goals in the history of the game.
''Tell South Africans the truth to understand that their team is not good enough'' - Ghana FA President, Kurt Okraku responds to SAFA allegations#JoySports pic.twitter.com/YzX4DOGTs4
— Joy Sports (@JoySportsGH) November 18, 2021
The Ghanian football journalists say all of this is unnecessary and now people are trying to tarnish Ghana’s image because of poor officiating, which is a problem everywhere in the world, not just in matches that involve Ghana. Reference was made to the UEFA World Cup qualifier between Portugal and Sweden where a clean goal was disallowed and proved to be vital in the end.
“Officiating is a big problem in football, not just in Africa but all over the world and there is no need for overreacting and tarnishing Ghana’s image. Ghana have been a victim of poor officiating before, so please calm down and let’s deal with this matter in an appropriate way.” Said Noel Travis.
This doesn't age well for the Ghanaian Football Association https://t.co/0tuNY3Ut2E
— Mxolisi T Sehoole (@thap370) November 19, 2021
