Charlton Athletic player and South African international Mark Fish says he is extremely disappointed with manager ‘Shakes’ Mashaba’s tough stance not to bend the rules and allow him and other European-based players to arrive a few days late for the African Cup of Nations which begins in Tunisia later this month.
”I am very disappointed with the African Cup of Nations situation because I would love to play for my country,” said Fish
”I was hoping that some sort of compromise could be reached between myself and Shakes whereby he could let me join the squad a bit later. I don’t see why he couldn’t have let me do that.
”At the end of the day it may be a breakdown of communication but once again, I’m not going to play for South Africa. I am disappointed but hopefully my chance to play for my country will come again sooner or later.”
He did feel, however, that Mashaba had taken the same view point with all the players and he did not make fish of one player and fowl of another.
”The same thing happened to Benni McCarthy and Shakes stood his ground, I’ve got to commend him on that. He’s not making any exceptions. He wants all the players at the camp on the same date so as to prepare properly for the tournament. I give him credit for that.”
”But at the end of the day you have players based in Europe and you want to make it as easy as possible for everyone to come together. We want to play for both our clubs and our country. The Africa Nations Cup is a big tournament for any European-based African player. It’s not like we are here on holiday, we are playing football all the time and we are fit. There’s nothing wrong with us,” said Fish.
He added that while he understood Mashaba’s point, Fish feels the SA coach should understand theirs as well.
”We are professional footballers and we don’t take these decisions lightly. They are very important. There’s no bigger honour than playing for your country and I am one of those players who appreciate the honour to play for my country.
”Even though I’ve already played 60 times for South Africa I’d love to play another 60 times. Hopefully the chance will come in the near future.”
Fish also believes that The Confederation of African Football (CAF) should become involved in the issue.
”I’ve always said that CAF should have a good look into this situation but once again they have their reasons .
”Which ever country gets to host the African Cup of Nations benefits from a huge financial boost. The competition provides revenue for the country and provides jobs so I understand why the tournament has to be held every two years.
”But I think that as far as the situation concerns us in the national team, we’d appreciate seeing Shakes bend the rule a bit. After all, Nigeria has allowed several players to come in a bit late.” – Sapa