By Chris Totobela
The 2024 New Year’s Cup (NYC) edition did not live up to expectations, especially when one looks at the previous editions. The first two to three editions raised the bar very high, which is why it becomes so easy for football lovers to notice a serious decline in this tournament.
Firstly not all the teams that were on the poster of participants that circulated, honoured their invitation. Nevertheless the draw went ahead on the same day of kick-off, 23 December. Joza Stars’ coach and manager was shocked when his team was told they would play the first game of the tournament at 3pm while the draw took place just after lunchtime, instead of the scheduled 10am.
Speaking to Grocott’s Mail, the Joza Stars’ manager expressed his disappointment. “I think the whole tournament was poorly organised. Maru was supposed to play the first game but they refused and we were told to play just less than two hours after the draw had been made, and it was extremely difficult for me to organise my players and most of them were still at work and I think this contributed to us losing to the eventual winners.”
He also spoke about poor officiating, which made headlines in the 2024 edition. “I have watched many editions of the NYC but this was the worst officiating I have ever seen. The referees were poor from day one until the last day.”
Grocott’s Mail spoke to a couple of football people who watched the NYC to get their views on the 9th edition. Football legend Xolela Tyelbooi shared his views. “This is the most poorly organised NYC I have ever seen. How can you make a tournament that lasts for a week and only play one game a day? The less said about the standard of football the better. Most teams came with combined teams and before they started to gel they found themselves already out of the tournament. The organisers shot themselves in the foot by sidelining local referees as their trusted referees had no clue what they were doing in the field. The non-involvement of our LFA is a clear sign of disrespect that backfired as everyone could see that the tournament was poor. This tournament does not contribute to the development of local football and it is just a money making scheme, let the organisers point out what it is that they have done to contribute to local football. I think the NYC is dying a slow death as we have witnessed in this edition.”
Maru’s Wandile Duruwe echoed the same sentiments. “Poor organisation was evident from day one, booking of the field was done very late. Poor refereeing was on everyone’s lips from day one. We have very good referees that are 10 times better than the ones that we have seen in this NYC and if this tournament is really about developing young talent, why are our referees not given a chance? The standard of this tournament has dropped and people have lost interest, the stadium was empty from day one and on the final day, only a handful of people came to watch.
“Players have also lost interest as they are tired of empty promises. Organisers do not even involve our LFA or region in this tournament, what does that tell you? The tournament is dying, there is nothing exciting about it. There is not a single local club that participated in this tournament that did not receive a red card, which makes us believe that our teams were targeted and this would make our teams to think twice before taking part in this NYC again.”
Malibongwe Hempe of City Pirates was also disappointed. “I don’t want to say much about this poorly organised NYC, especially about the disgusting officiating that we experienced. We were forced to play in the field that had broken glasses in it and as expected, some players came out with serious injuries and this shows that the organisers don’t really care about the players’ wellbeing. We did not even see the LOC that we were always told about as we only saw the chairman doing everything. It was just a mess as some teams did not even pitch up for their games.”
Makana Tigers’ manager Thandisizwe Matebese also shared his views. “This was the worst NYC I have ever seen and everything was poor. People have lost interest. People will rather come and watch the LFA teams than watching the NYC. It is dying and everyone can see that. Organisers need to pull up their socks. I don’t know where he got those match officials but they were a shame.”
JD Dlepu Stadium resident coach Louis Ntlanjeni was also disappointed. “The standard of officiating was very poor and many people suspected that there was a conspiracy to boot all the local sides out of the tournament, which is very sad as the numbers on the stands were already very low. People have just lost interest because of what is always happening in this NYC. I think the organisers must swallow their pride and involve the local people. It is also not clear how this NYC is assisting in the development of local football as there are no scouts coming to this tournament.”
Rhodes University sport administrator and Maru head coach, Siya Dumiso, as well as Makana LFA chairman Afika Adam and secretary Akhona Heshu, all declined to comment.
However, chairman of the NYC responded to people’s concerns. “I would like to start with the most controversial topic of this edition. We had referees that were supplied by the province as they use this tournament as a springboard for them to be promoted to the PSL. Luxolo Badi and Sithela were also spotted in this tournament. It was just a pitty that these ones froze when they got to the big stage. In terms of some of the clubs not pitching up for games, we understand that this is the most important season in our African culture where boys go to the mountain and we did not find their replacements in good time. The standard of football has not dropped if you look at Maru versus PK United game, Motherwell Envoys versus Makana Tigers’s game and the final. Yes the numbers in the stands declined and we understand as this is the busiest time for many people.”
The chairman switched his focus into the future, promising an improved tournament. He promised that this year’s edition will be better, with the prize money going back to R100 000 and a total of 32 teams taking part in the event. He hinted to the organisers possibly reverting to using the SMS format to enter teams into the tournament. He also confirmed that Gqeberha will co-host the tournament.
Papu also told GM that he is thinking of moving the tournament to another town as he is not getting any support from the local municipality. He says he wants to take the event where it will be appreciated. He also responded on the NYC not helping on the development of local football. “We have trained many local coaches and we will be providing Makhanda with mobile clinics. Yes we have left nothing for local football this year.”
He also responded to teams complaining about late payment. “Our sponsors have long internal processes that have to be followed and we have no choice but to wait for those processes.”
The 2024 edition was won by Gqeberha-based Motherwell Envoys having defeated PK United, from Peddie, in a thrill-a-minute final by a single goal.
Clearly this NYC has got toungues wagging as football lovers have raised many questions about it, but one thing that they agree on is that the standard of the whole tournament has dropped significantly and that it does not really assist in the development of local football as the local people and football authorities are always left out in the cold while being reduced to mere spectators in their own backyard.
It is also not fair for the clubs who spend a lot of money in this tournament, only to be robbed by incompetent match officials who use this tournament to see if they are ready for the big stage or not. The organiser needs to step up and come up with a different plan that will include all stakeholders in local football.
Playing the NYC in an empty stadium was embarrassing but hopefully this year’s edition will bring back all the lost glory of this tournament.
