It's a terrible comparison because of all the reasons above, if the white community decided Football was the game they'd have the financial and logisitcal systems/power in place to excel at it.
You keep bringing up the financial aspect as if the white minority is still in charge of everything. That's no longer the case. At school level, where the development of our future countrymen starts, white kids are the minority. Just because there are millions of black kids living in shacks, does not mean there are no black kids in proper schools. +70% of current primary school students are black. This has been so for the last 10 years. This means, those kids could have decided to engage in rugby at school. Yet, they decide to go for soccer (football) since it's more common for them and they know the rules. The interest level in rugby by the black community is just not there on a large scale. Is that bad? I don't think so. There's more money to be made in football than in rugby in South Africa (and the rest of the world by the way). The majority will always back the most popular sport in the country. How many countries are there in the world where rugby is the most popular sport? New Zealand, the Pacific Islands and that's about it. Rugby is not a major sport and it never will be. It certainly won't replace football as the most popular sport in countries like Argentina, South Africa, Namibia, England or Italy.
Secondly Football is a much simpler sport it's easier to play, understand and excel at, there is no requirement for specialist training as we see across the world with kids in poverty stricken areas such as Brazil excelling.
Agree. It's a simpler sport. Why? Because all you need is a ball. That's it. Can we blame the sport of football then, for the lack of black kids playing rugby at a young age? The main reason black kids prefer football over rugby is because it's the most popular sport in the country. In the Netherlands we have minorities like the muslim community or colonials (from Suriname, Dutch Caribbean) playing football instead of other sports like field hockey, volleyball etc.
Germany was in ruins and they rebuilt an entire country in less than 20 years. South Africa wasn't struggling in the same manner, but corrupt and inadequate governments have ruined the country after Apartheid was abolished. In 20 years, with the right government, this country could have been the gateway to Africa. An example for the rest of the continent where they build on the wealth and prosperity they achieved during the Apartheid years and despite of boycots from all over the world. The entire world opened it's doors to South Africa and what has happened? A 20-year long debate about racial diversity and blaming Apartheid for everything still. When a company goes bankrupt, the president blames Apartheid. When ESKOM (Electricity Utility) has to enforce load shedding the president blames Apartheid. South Africa will never grow as a country unless they get rid of the racist political party that gets voted into power by the poor because they simply don't know better.
It's a political battle that has nothing to do with sports.
No the problem is why do they make that choice? Saying blacks prefer football is an inherently racist statement (NB: to be clear i am not calling you racist, i'm making a generalist statement), there are a multitude of reason behind why that decision is made, and it doesn't change the fact that a massive % of the countries population are not involved in the National sport in anyway.
Okay, saying blacks prefer football is a racist statement, but enforcing a quota on a national team about to play in the World Cup isn't? The quota system forces players to be selected based on skin color (race). It judges people based on the color of their skin. Let's go with the term racially motivated or racial discrimination.
Clearly you're having a pop at my use of the term institutionalised racism, even though you are using it in the wrong context, and of course it applies here, how on earth can it not were talking about a sport that takes athletes and rewards them on a level undreamt of in the poverty strciken parts of the country.
Again, the poverty issue has nothing to do with the lack of black rugby players. Just because there are millions of people living in shacks, does not mean there aren't any black people living a normal life and being able to send their kids to schools. The amount of black kids in school is high enough to have them represent a rugby team, but do they want to do so? No. They decide to play football instead!
With all that's on offer to a top class rugby player I find the statement "they just prefer soccer' incredibly distasteful. It's like using crime statistics to say that a certain race is predisposed to certain crimes without taking into account the socio-economic impact on the society these criminals come from.
Call it distasteful, but it's the truth. My son is 7 years old. In a class of 24, there are 2 other white kids and 2 coloured. The remaining 19 are black. How many of those 19 kids play rugby? Want to guess? 1! Only 1 out of the 19 kids in his class wants to play rugby. The other 18 want to play football. They are crazy about football. They talk about nothing else. You see them wear Kaizer Chiefs shirts when they go out and play football in town after school. They love football. They don't like rugby because it's not their game. They know everything about the best football players in the world. Messi, Ronaldo, Ibrahimovic etc etc. Why don't they know anything about the best rugby players in the world? Well, there isn't enough exposure. Rugby is not on the same level as football. Even my son who loves rugby, doesn't know who guys like Manu Tuilagi, Ma'a Nonu, Will Genia or Ritchie McCaw are. Why? Because there isn't the same amount of exposure as there is with football. My son knows who Patrick Lambie is, because he plays for the Sharks. He knows players of the team he supports and that's it. He's 7. Meanwhile his classmates are obsessed with Messi and Ronaldo who play on the other side of the world.
Regardles the Quota system is not racist, it's positive discrimination, that's a massive point of difference, and has been used across the world to redress the imbalance of many unfairly treated groups.
The whole debate about this quota system is how ridiculous it is. Have you ever tried to change something and instead of making changes at the start of the chain you go to the very end? It does not make sense. If the ANC, SARU and others want to implement a regime where more black players represent the Springboks, maybe they should just start at the beginning and let it run from there. Is it fair to pick a guy like Rudy Paige who hasn't even played a game for the Springboks and leave Cobus Reinach out of the team? Positive discrimination is the most ridiculous term uttered since the dawn of time. Just because you add the word "positive" doesn't make it right. It's racial discrimination and once we start to justify that, the human race is lost.
Is it right? Well no, as i've said i'm not saying Quota system is right, but if more had been done to demonstrate the development and opportunities afforded to the black population was the same as the white there would be no grounds for a quota system as everyone would be there on merit only.
And yes, it's linked to Economic development, which is why Rugby is so important within this discussion.
Nope. You think the black community has not had a chance to develop. SARU has been trying for 20 years to promote rugby to the black community. Rugby games are broadcast even with Xhosa commentary. The main language however is English. This is no longer pre-1990 South Africa where everything rugby-related is aimed at the white minority. Afrikaans is no longer the main language spoken during broadcasts and more and more black people are visiting rugby games. However, we will never get to a point where more than 50% of the players or spectators at rugby games are black. Why? Because they prefer other sports. Call is distasteful to say so, I don't give a rats ass. It's the truth. The smaller communities, whom combined make up more than half the population are proof that black kids prefer to play football. I wish we could go back to a world where sport was about having fun and trying to be the best, instead of only being the best among your race. Racial discrimination is wrong, and so is the quota system.