SOCCER: Andrew Muchineripi
AGLANCE at the Coca-Cola Challenge Cup standings is likely to induce a sense of shock among regular football followers.
Bloemfontein Celtic first, Vaal Professionals second, Wits and Moroka Swallows joint third, Manning Rangers fifth. Can this really be a competition involving all the First Division clubs?
The best-placed ”big name” is Sundowns in eighth place, eight points behind Celtic with two matches in hand. Kaizer Chiefs are 10th, 1995 ”double” winners Cape Town Spurs 11th and African champions Orlando Pirates 12th.
So what is going on in this one-off competition created at extremely short notice to fill the gap between the season-opening BP Top 8 competition and the much-heralded Premier League, whose birth is scheduled for July?
Well, in keeping with a long-standing National Soccer League (NSL) tradition, the number of matches played by clubs differs greatly, with five teams having fulfilled 11 fixtures while Pirates have made only five appearances.
Chiefs are also behind schedule although it is difficult to sympathise with the fallen giants of South African soccer following their ridiculous action a couple of weeks ago.
The Amakhosi were due to meet Celtic at home but successfully applied for a postponement because they had three players on national duty, which is the minimum number of absentees required to cancel a fixture.
Strictly speaking, Chiefs were within their rights, but considering one of the trio, Patrick Mbuthu, had never played for the first team, they certainly could be accused of sharp practice.
What may happen soon is that clubs like Hellenic, Swallows and Bush Bucks will have virtually completed their 17-match programme while the Amakhosi and Buccaneers have 10 matches to play.
Pirates managing director Irvin Khoza said at the beginning of the year that his club would field two teams — one for international engagements and one for domestic competitions.
Khoza has implemented this policy only partially, however, and if Pirates take advantage of the three-player rule during May they will not be seen in action at domestic level.
On May 4, the Buccaneers host Ilhwa Chunma of South Korea in the Afro-Asian Cup and visit Zambia the following weekend for an African Champions’ Cup second-round date with Mufulira Wanderers.
The return matches in both events are scheduled for May 18 in Seoul and May 26 in South Africa with Durban the likeliest venue because Pirates are barred from staging African fixtures at FNB Stadium for one year due to crowd trouble last year.
Challenge Cup matches have not proved big drawcards, with the Alexandra Stadium being a notable exception when Pirates roll into the township next to Sandton.
One newspaper published a depressing set of attendance figures with some barely topping three figures, leading the secrecy-obsessed NSL to ban any further disclosures.
The attitudes of clubs towards the Challenge Cup varies with some unfashionable ones like Celtic and Professionals viewing it as a real opportunity to achieve fame if not fortune (there is no prize money).
Others, like Sundowns, used to react to losses by saying the Premier League was the real goal, although results have improved considerably since Johnny Ferreira replaced Dutch coach Clemens Westerhof.
When the Challenge Cup fixtures are completed at the end of May (a deadline that appears increasingly optimistic), the leading 16 clubs will qualify for the Coca-Cola Cup, an annual feature of the soccer calendar since 1992.
The team finishing first on the standings will play the team finishing 16th, the team finishing second faces the one coming 15th, and so on until the eighth and ninth-placed teams are paired.
Who plays at home in the knockout competition has to be decided, and given the extraordinary ability of the NSL to create confusion out of order, stand by for another dose of off-the-field drama.
Places in Africa are at stake although there is confusion as to who gets what. Some believe the club that lifts the Coca-Cola Cup enters the 1997 African Champions’ Cup and the Challenge Cup winners go into the CAF Cup.
Others claim the opposite and repeated attempts to contact NSL PRO Andrew Dipela this week failed because, as usual, his cellphone was switched off.
Things go better with Coke according to the ad men. But when it comes to South African football, that slogan appears to be only partly true.