In 1987, Al Campanis, then a vice-president for American baseball club, the LA Dodgers, was asked by Ted Koppell, host of ABC TV’s Nigthline program, why there were so few blacks working as managers in baseball. Campanis replied that blacks ‘may not have some of the necessities to be, let’s say, a field manager, or, perhaps, a general manager.’ That’s in the US where such attitudes are said to be widely held (Campanis just slipped out his prejudices) and where black coaches in most major sports codes are still few and far between.
But you’d expect better in Africa’s most popular sport (currently focused at Ghana where the African Cup of Nations is taking place with the final later today), right?
This may a case of the pot calling the kettle black, but check out the source (an op-ed in the Christian Science Monitor) here.
Phuleeeeze. This kind of semi-literate stuff as analysis of Africa irritates. “The people” don’t appoint coaches you dumb-ass! Anyone who’s followed the game on this continent knows “the people” have been asking the same question for ages: why don’t use local coaches? It’s a big issue in SA, Nigeria, Even taxi-drivers ask this question – though I doubt interviewing taxi-drivers for insight into the football politics of a country, a continent would be considered acceptable in England or Italy!
A short lecture: 1) before the ethically-challenged Fifa stepped into the fray (not so long ago), few African countries had the necessary rapport (call it connections, call it racism) to get their players to come home. As the coach of Cameroon Claude le Roy routinely traveled to France (where most of the players were based) to have tea with his brothers, or whatever it is Frenchmen use as binding rituals, to convince them to release players. The federation would strategically appoint him, or Michel or some other Frenchman, a month or three before a major tournament – the rest of the time, they’d use Cameroonian coaches, Jules Nyonga and Nkono others.
2) For lack of facilities, and mere convenience (most players are based in Europe), the same Le Roy would use his connections to secure training facilities and friendly matches for the national team before tournaments
3) The dubious argument of neutrality often used in the political terrain (the need for “neutral” election observers, for instance) also applies here. Unfortunately foreign white coaches are perceived to be immune to political pressure and ethnic rivalries. We know this isn’t true. By the way, this is also why CAF invited Japanese referees are required to judge football matches at the CAN. This too was at the heart of the Adebayor/Keshi spat before the last world cup, not white envy!
This is NOT an argument for white coaches in Africa but enough lazy reporting! In fact the question the writer should be asking is: why are most football club coaches in South Africa white, when team owners, players and administrators are black. And I mean ask it, don’t just ride in a tropical taxi.