A suggestion that South Africa could withdraw their players from club football in the two years running up to the 2010 World Cup finals, has come under fire.
The country’s Sports Minister Makhenkesi Stofile believes South Africa’s top 50 players should be contracted to the government so they can prepare for the tournament to be hosted in South Africa.
“We’ll contract the players and tell the coach ‘here, work with them’,” said Stofile.
“They won’t play for their clubs for two years and will be preparing only for the World Cup soccer tournament.
“We have to prevent them from embarrassing us.”
If the plan is implemented Everton would be likely to lose midfielder Steven Pienaar for the next two seasons.
Everton chief executive Keith Wyness has attacked the plan as unworkable.
“While we sympathise with the sentiment behind the idea, it is entirely unworkable and shows a complete lack of understanding for how the football world works,” Wyness told the Daily Express.
