Soccer must broaden its base with provincial structures

SA FOOTBALL Association president Danny Jordaan's burning desire is to see soccer broaden its base by developing provincial structures for the game at all levels to cater for the country's population across the board.

The Port Elizabeth-born administrator, now based in Johannesburg, would also like to see more schools offering soccer to assist the sport in developing from a grassroots level.

In the two decades since democracy in South Africa, soccer has been the one sport where historically there has not been a critical need for transformation on the field of play.

However, Jordaan says transformation in the sport's structures is essential and that for the game "to be truly national, you have to involve the majority of the black population".

"For example, in the year 2030 it is estimated 90% of South Africa's population will be black and all sporting codes should be looking at developing talent from those areas. If you don't, by definition you are hurting your future."

He said SA soccer also needed to transform its coaching capacity so there were enough trained individuals to handle the country's young talent. - Neale Emslie