Post by Macmoish on Oct 11, 2011 6:37:28 GMT
Maybe I'm misreading it, but I don't see how they have a case for not knowing the rules.
GUARDIAN
South Africa appeal to CAF following Africa Cup of Nations mix-up
• Team failed to qualify after wrongly settling for draw
• We think we have a case, says board chief executive
South Africa have said they are serious about protesting against their Africa Cup of Nations elimination as the fallout from a botched weekend of qualifying gathered momentum on Monday. The side lost out in a three-way tie in their qualifying group with the unheralded Niger taking top spot because of a better head-to-head record when Bafana Bafana thought that goal difference was the deciding factor.
"We are going ahead with an appeal to the Confederation of African Football because we think we have a case," the South African Football Association chief executive, Robin Petersen, said. Critics have accused them of putting forward a flimsy argument to cover up their embarrassment.
Petersen said goal difference is a fairer option than head-to-heads and that there is past precedent to overturn the standings, even though the rules had been set out by the CAF some time before the qualifiers even started. Petersen added that the coach, Pitso Mosimane, informed officials he had read the rules before Saturday's last qualifying game against Sierra Leone in Nelspruit but misinterpreted them.
The coach was called in to explain why he played for a 0-0 draw in a game that South Africa needed to win irrespective of the result in the other group match, where the bottom side Egypt beat Niger 3-0 in Cairo. The games were played simultaneously on Saturday.
Niger led both South Africa and Sierra Leone by a point going into the weekend's last round of qualifiers but when news that Niger were trailing in Cairo reached Mosimane, he told his players to play for a draw believing it would be enough to qualify. There was exaggerated timewasting in the final minutes followed by scenes of celebration before South Africa discovered they had botched the permutations.
A CAF spokesman said a South African protest would be looked into but refused to comment further.
Mosimane, who took over as South Africa's coach after the country's hosting of the 2010 World Cup, has taken the brunt of vitriolic condemnation on radio talk shows and across social media with a majority of fans calling for his dismissal.
www.guardian.co.uk/football/2011/oct/10/south-africa-africa-cup-nations
GUARDIAN
South Africa appeal to CAF following Africa Cup of Nations mix-up
• Team failed to qualify after wrongly settling for draw
• We think we have a case, says board chief executive
South Africa have said they are serious about protesting against their Africa Cup of Nations elimination as the fallout from a botched weekend of qualifying gathered momentum on Monday. The side lost out in a three-way tie in their qualifying group with the unheralded Niger taking top spot because of a better head-to-head record when Bafana Bafana thought that goal difference was the deciding factor.
"We are going ahead with an appeal to the Confederation of African Football because we think we have a case," the South African Football Association chief executive, Robin Petersen, said. Critics have accused them of putting forward a flimsy argument to cover up their embarrassment.
Petersen said goal difference is a fairer option than head-to-heads and that there is past precedent to overturn the standings, even though the rules had been set out by the CAF some time before the qualifiers even started. Petersen added that the coach, Pitso Mosimane, informed officials he had read the rules before Saturday's last qualifying game against Sierra Leone in Nelspruit but misinterpreted them.
The coach was called in to explain why he played for a 0-0 draw in a game that South Africa needed to win irrespective of the result in the other group match, where the bottom side Egypt beat Niger 3-0 in Cairo. The games were played simultaneously on Saturday.
Niger led both South Africa and Sierra Leone by a point going into the weekend's last round of qualifiers but when news that Niger were trailing in Cairo reached Mosimane, he told his players to play for a draw believing it would be enough to qualify. There was exaggerated timewasting in the final minutes followed by scenes of celebration before South Africa discovered they had botched the permutations.
A CAF spokesman said a South African protest would be looked into but refused to comment further.
Mosimane, who took over as South Africa's coach after the country's hosting of the 2010 World Cup, has taken the brunt of vitriolic condemnation on radio talk shows and across social media with a majority of fans calling for his dismissal.
www.guardian.co.uk/football/2011/oct/10/south-africa-africa-cup-nations