Bafana punish blunder culprits

30 March 2012 15:49

The South Africa Football Association has disciplined those responsible for last year's Africa Cup of Nations qualifying debacle.

The South Africa coaching team were apparently under the mistaken impression they needed a draw in their final qualifying match against Sierra Leone last October to book their place in the finals of the 2012 tournament.

The team engaged in blatant time-wasting on their way to a 0-0 draw, and celebrated after the final whistle.

But they in fact finished behind Niger in Group G, based on an inferior head-to-head record, and missed out on the finals in Gabon and Equatorial Guinea.

In an interview with Avusa Media, South African Football Association (SAFA) chief executive Robin Petersen said action had been taken against those responsible for the costly misunderstanding.

"Letters of warning were written to people who should have known better," Petersen said.

"We had sent a report to the minister and to SASCOC (South Africa Sports Confederation and Olympic Committee) which indicated that disciplinary action had been taken against those who I felt were responsible for not reading the rules properly.

"But as I said to SASCOC and to the minister and to my (executive) committee, that's a matter between myself and the employees.

"I listened to explanations that were given and then took what I believed was the right disciplinary action."