South Africa FA hope to engage with Mark Fish over posts

By Mo Allie

The South African Football Association (Safa) insists that Thursday's press release supporting Black Lives Matter was not a reaction to social media comments made by former international Mark Fish.

Safa's communications manager Dominic Chimhavi emphasized the timing of the release was purely coincidental and that they had been working on the statement for a "few days".

"We had already been working on the statement and it just happened that we released it at the same time the outcry over the tweets was gaining momentum," he explained.

Chimhavi added that the association has been trying to discuss the tweets with Fish, who was part of Bafana's technical team at the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations.

"We wish to engage with Mark so that we can find out what triggered his tweets that have evoked such an angry response from South Africans," Chimhavi added.

"We will continue trying to reach out to him."

Controversy on Twitter

The controversy erupted after Fish 'liked' a post on the social media platform Twitter that was critical of the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement.

The post in question said that Siya Kolisi, who famously captained the South Africa to victory at last year's Rugby World Cup, was an affirmative action appointment and slammed the national cricket and rugby bodies for "bowing to BLM."

In response to a question from a Twitter user who asked Fish where he stood on the BLM matter since he liked the post, the former Bafana Bafana defender responded with this comment that caused the outcry: "If you stand for nothing you will fall for everything … All Lives matter."

Fish tried to explain himself to his 78,500 followers, posting: "I love all ... no one is different." Added to the tweet was a picture which read: "2000 years ago Jesus ended the debate of which lives matter. He died for all."

In another post he said: "I see my inbox of a lot of hate but alway (sic) know … all lives matter … know (sic) matter where we come from."

The former Orlando Pirates defender also tweeted: "Sorry to offend many people… I certainly am not a racist but I am a firm believer in all people matter so all lives matter… no matter our past … focus on today and the future … if you don't stand for something you will always fall for everything ... have a fantastic evening." 

In Thursday's press release from Safa President Danny Jordaan pledged his solidarity with South African athletes who have related painful experiences of racism in their respective sporting codes.

"The Association fully supports the Black Lives Matter movement and hereby calls on more athletes and administrators to speak out and engage in meaningful conversations about how we can uproot all manifestations of discrimination in sport and society generally."

Fish is not the first white South African sportsman to become embroiled in controversy over comments made about the BLM movement last week it was former international cricketers Pat Symcox and Boeta Dippenaar.

This article originally appeared on BBC News

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