Cardoso’s criticism of SA football turning disrespectful

FINAL WHISTLE

- MIHLALI BALEKA

MIGUEL Cardoso is entitled to his opinion. He leads Mamelodi Sundowns’ technical team for a reason. But his persistent criticism of South African football is beginning to border on disrespect and ingratitude. He must stop.

Cardoso delivered a 25-minute rant about the poor state of topflight football in the Premier Soccer League after Sundowns’ 2-1 win over Golden Arrows in the Betway Premiership on Wednesday night.

In doing so, he came close to suggesting the league is poorly administered a claim that would disregard decades of work that have built it into the multimillion-rand product it is today.

The Portuguese coach criticised the PSL, the absence of Video Assistant Referee (VAR), the allegiance of supporters, and the poor state of pitch conditions across the country.

Granted, some of those points are valid. The PSL could do more to support teams competing on the continent, while the South African Football Association (Safa), the league, and other stakeholders could accelerate the rollout of VAR. But it was Cardoso’s tone and reasoning that struck a nerve.