JOHANNESBURG -- South African soccer is
suffering a confidence crisis despite the team's victory in a
World Cup qualifier on Saturday which virtually secured
qualification for next year's finals, officials said on Sunday.
South Africa's 2-1 win over closest rivals, and neighbours,
Zimbabwe in Johannesburg means they need just one point from
their last two matches to qualify for the 2002 World Cup finals.
But a potential cliffhanger of a match -- one of the most
important in the country's World Cup history -- attracted only
15,000 spectators to the 75,000-capacity Soccer City stadium on
the outskirts of Johannesburg.
"The people are still angry," admitted South African
Football Association (SAFA) chief executive officer Danny
Jordaan, in a reference to last month's stadium tragedy at
nearby Ellis Park.
Forty-three people died and more than 100 were injured in a
crush as an estimated 75,000 spectators attempted to fill the
60,000 seats at Ellis Park for a league match between the
country's two most popular clubs, Kaizer Chiefs and Orlando
Pirates.
A commission of inquiry is to investigate the deaths but
soccer officials have been largely blamed for poor organisation
and a disregard for the fans.
Elaborate security precautions were put in place for
Saturday's World Cup qualifier with SAFA predicting a crowd of
some 50,000 at Soccer City, the country's biggest stadium.
Officials beefed up security and printed seat numbers on
tickets for the first time in five years to avoid a repeat of
the tragedy at Ellis Park.
But the stadium was largely empty as fans stayed away. No
official attendance figure was released but officials said there
were almost as many Zimbabwean fans as there were for the home
team.
"We have to sit down and find out what the issues are. We
are going to invite the public to tell us what is wrong," said
Jordaan.
Saturday's low attendance was a major financial loss for
SAFA and a blow to the country's hopes of hosting the 2010 World
Cup finals.
It was supposed to be the biggest revenue-generating game
for the football association this year.
"Right now we don't have all the answers," Jordaan added,
"but it is a big setback for us."
Officials were meeting on Sunday to discuss the poor
attendance.
South Africa can make sure of their World Cup berth with a
draw away at Burkina Faso in Ouagadougou on June 30. They finish
their World Cup qualifying campaign at home to Malawi on July
14, a match scheduled to be played in Cape Town.
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