Sasol and SAFA pave the road for Amaglug-glug to the Beijing Olympics

The plan follows within a week of Sasol's announcement that it will sponsor the Amaglug-glug with R40 million over the next four years. Sasol's association with the Amaglug-glug team and SAFA began in 1994 and so far the company has invested R75 million in the team and development of soccer in South Africa.

Sasol chief executive, Pieter Cox, says: "We are pleased to be involved with the Amaglug-glug and SAFA, and the introduction of a dynamic plan to develop soccer and our National Under-23 side into a team that will do the nation proud. It all begins with an intensive talent search, followed by the development of a professional pool of players from which the Amaglug-glug side will be selected for the All Africa Games Qualifiers, the Olympics Qualifiers and the Beijing Olympics."

The Amaglug-glug team that will represent South Africa in Beijing in 2008 will also form the foundation for the Bafana Bafana team that will be battling out with the rest of the world in 2010.

The President of the South African Football Association, Molefi Oliphant, said: "SAFA is delighted to have produced such a sustainable plan and could not have asked for a better partner than Sasol. We're looking forward to implementing this plan that sets out to unearth a wealth of talent and to develop football at levels not seen in our country before."

Trevor Munday, executive director of Sasol, said: "We at Sasol have had a long and enjoyable relationship with the South African Football Association, and it has been our pleasure to have been associated with the development of soccer in South Africa for the past 10 years. During this time, we have contributed about R75 million to SAFA for both the development of soccer and, of course, the support of the Amaglug-glug".

Sasol's R40 million sponsorship will be broken down into approximately R10 million a year over the next four years, depending on the activity plan for every particular year.

New objectives include the establishment of a joint project team comprising of members of Sasol and SAFA, the appointment of a full time project manager, the appointment of a suitably qualified coach who will work closely with the national team coach, and an aggressive marketing campaign to ensure support from all South Africans.

The Plan

Dubbed, 'Beijing - Our Destination', the plan comprises two parallel legs that will lead to the selection of the team to represent South Africa in Beijing:

1. Talent Identification
The first leg of the plan is called Wonke Wonke (meaning "everyone"). SAFA and Sasol will hold trials in every corner of South Africa to unearth talent in conjunction with the 25 SAFA regions, ensuring that all players born on or after the 1 of January 1985 get the opportunity to showcase their talent.

Wonke Wonke will start at district level, followed by regional participation and will culminate in a series of provincial trials. SAFA coaches will be hard at work in selecting the finest from an abundance of South African talent.

An important component of the talent identification leg is the philosophy that the programme encompasses everybody and will accommodate all talent including that which may not be produced inside the Wonke Wonke programme. Referred to as the "Freeway", this element of the plan provides opportunity for any player to emerge from anywhere, at anytime.

2. Professional Players
Whilst Wonke Wonke will unearth un-polished talent; a parallel leg of the programme will focus on known professional players who are currently participating in either the Premier Soccer League; the Mvela League or playing abroad.

From this professional pool, players will be selected to represent South Africa in a number of planned international friendly matches such as the Toulon Festival in France. As a cornerstone of the Sasol/SAFA programme, these games will provide the opportunity to hone skills and create a world class team.

Road to Beijing

Once the parallel legs of the journey have been completed, a pool of 60 players will be established. From the pool, the SA National U-23 side will be selected for the All Africa Games Qualifiers, the Olympics Qualifiers and the Beijing Olympics.

After outlining the activity plan leading to Beijing, Oliphant announced Steve Komphela as the Coach of the U-23 side and Barney Kujane as the Project Manager, ensuring that this structured initiative is delivered.

The re-deployment of Barney Kujane, who is currently Director of National Teams at SAFA, did not come as a surprise as he led the Amaglug-glug campaigns since 1994 to 2000 when the team participated in Olympic Games in Sydney, Australia.

"It is indeed a mammoth task, but I am ready to face the challenge as not only will we be building the team for Beijing 2008, but also laying a foundation for 2010 World Cup," Kujane said. "South Africans hopes will be pinned on this mission, we therefore have to deliver."