Last week, a storm erupted as Hugo Broos and his poor choice of words landed him in hot water, with sexism and racism allegations levelled against him.
Broos was talking about Mbekezeli Mbokazi‘s move to Chicago Fire in the US from Orlando Pirates, a decision which he criticised— which is well within his rights.
However, Broos also took a deliberate and sexist jab at Mbokazi’s agent, Basia Michaels, of QT Sports, in his reaction to the news when he said: “I know what happened. A woman who is his agent and thinks she knows football is doing what many agents are doing and thinking ‘how much can I get’.”
Safa over the weekend released a statement in which they tried to spin the issue.
Safa Defends Broos Amid Misinterpretation Claims: Language Barrier and Record Cited
First, they took exception to the character accusations along with the quote of Broos which read: “It is unfortunate that my strong rebuke of the player’s conduct and subsequent comments were misinterpreted as racism and sexism. I distance myself from any accusation of racism and sexism.”
They would go on to say that a language barrier was behind the reason Broos was ‘misinterpreted’. If you read the above quote from Broos, it sounds like he has excellent command of the English language. Also, he hasn’t been misinterpreted before in his tenure with Bafana, since taking charge in 2021.
Still, Safa said: “Safa noted that a language barrier contributed to the coach’s frustrations not being fully or clearly conveyed during the interview, leading to misunderstandings about his intent.”
It’s absolutely ludicrous to try and spin the fact that Broos was being sexist and condescending about Michaels, as a language barrier.
Safa was not done there though, as they used his exemplary record since he took charge of Bafana as further explanation for his ‘intent’ when it said: “Safa stressed that in Broos’ four years at the helm, neither players nor staff have raised any issues related to racism, sexism, or discrimination of any kind.”
That means that if someone has never been racist or sexist before, they can’t be any time in the future. The logic behind that one is astounding.
Instead of doubling down and going on the offensive, Safa should have acknowledged that Broos was in the wrong, along with an admission that it wouldn’t happen again.
We all make mistakes; the important part is acknowledging them so you can learn from them.
That didn’t happen here.
@Michael_Sherman
IOL Sport
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