Time for CAF to act on barbarism

Mqondisi Dube | Tuesday September 15, 2026 10:06

The fact that such behaviour has been accepted as the norm rather than the exception appears to have legitimised the practice, in a classic case of two wrongs making a right. Gaborone United became the latest victims of an increasingly entrenched pattern when they flew into a nightmarish afternoon in Dar es Salaam. Video clips of hapless GU officials and players caught up in scenes resembling a wrestling ring during the Royal Rumble quickly went viral, probably landing on the phone of CAF president Patrice Motsepe. But within a day or two, the incident will likely be relegated to the dustbins of history, while the culprits continue roaming the streets of Dar es Salaam and, by extension, Africa, scot-free. They have learnt that their actions carry little or no consequence. In fact, they appear to regard such behaviour as a form of heroism. They have normalised the abnormal. Yet the same Tanzanian team was in Gaborone just over a week ago and received decent treatment. Football is supposed to be played on the pitch and decided by the exceptional talents of the feet and, in the goalkeeper’s case, the hands.

Unfortunately, some countries, Tanzania now among them, have gained notoriety for bad behaviour, using intimidation and ill-treatment to try to force visiting teams into submission. Teams are beginning to dread travelling to certain parts of the continent. Southern Africa has largely been a good boy, but its teams are increasingly facing harassment when they travel elsewhere in Africa. But what is CAF doing about all this? This is hardly a new phenomenon. In some cases, it is the same culprits repeatedly involved in such incidents. Do we hear of such things in Europe? Hardly. There may be clashes between supporters, but it is rare to hear of visiting teams being subjected to violence, with officials and players head-butted in the full glare of television cameras.

Perhaps the problem is that this is Africa, and such incidents have become so normalised that they no longer provoke the urgency they should from CAF officials. The governing body appears too often willing to look the other way. If CAF were to start taking stern action including docking points or, in extreme cases, reversing results clubs would quickly understand that there are consequences for failing to protect visiting teams and treat them with dignity. Football should be decided by what happens on the pitch, not by who can intimidate an opponent off it. GU flew back home with their dignity torn to tatters by the off-the-field shenanigans of Tanzanian officials, and it could be the last we hear of it.