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Barney Kujane has been the man arranging all the logistics for SA’s national teams over many years. He shares his experiences with Daniel Mothowagae, including the complex itinerary of Bafana’s crucial Afcon qualifier against Libya
‘Barney Kujane: the man with 13 lives missing in action,” wrote Bobby Charlton on a postcard addressed to the Bafana Bafana team manager some years ago.
The England and Manchester United legend said these wise words after he was left in awe by Kujane’s captivating storytelling during the South African Under-23 training camp in England in 1994.
Charlton was yearning for more and did not want a day to go by without interacting with the veteran administrator during their brief time together in the UK.
Charlton’s description of the man, who hails from Pudumong village in Taung, North West, was perfect.
Kujane has done and seen it all in the many years he has been involved in football – from a futile mission to become a professional player to being detained while on a facility inspection mission overseas, facing death threats and having the honour of a street being named after hi.
His boyish looks belie his age – he turns 72 in November.
Amid the tension that is hanging over Bafana Bafana’s build-up to their crucial Afcon qualifier against Libya, Kujane lightened the mood during this week’s announcement of the squad that will play in the March 24 match. His impersonation of Steve Komphela had the media in stitches.
Kujane unpacked the logistics of the Bafana camp ahead of the team’s trip to Tunisia, where South Africa will meet the Libyans in Sfax next Sunday.
“The facility inspection in Tunisia has been a completely different task,” he told City Press.
“This is because we are playing against Libya, who are not playing on their home turf. What has made it even more difficult is that they took their time in confirming the venue and date of the match.”
CAF only states that matches should be played on a certain weekend, giving three days from Friday to Sunday. The host nation decides which day they prefer to play on and then informs their opponents.
Libya are staging their home games in neighbouring Tunisia because of instability in their country.
Kujane has also had to factor in the complexities of getting overseas-based players to all fly to Frankfurt, Germany, to meet with the rest of the team.
These include a few who are campaigning in away CAF Champions League fixtures, with Orlando Pirates and Mamelodi Sundowns playing in Guinea-Bissau and Morocco, respectively.
The locally based contingent departed on Saturday night.
Despite the challenges, Kujane returned from north Africa last weekend, satisfied that he had ticked all the boxes on an assignment he could easily do again with his eyes shut.
He said Libya were well within the rules to confirm the details three weeks before a game in which South Africa needed just a point to reach the Afcon finals in Egypt.
Kujane’s 25 years of experience is all too apparent, given the precision with which he rattles off the details of Bafana’s itinerary off the top of his head, as well as his absolute attention to detail.
Reasonable travel time and periods in transit are key when planning for away matches, he noted.
“The team will travel to Tunis, capital of Tunisia, via Frankfurt. A plus point is that it’s a direct route from South Africa, which takes about 10 hours 30 minutes. We’ll arrive in Frankfurt at 6.15am and, by 9am, we’ll take a chartered flight to Tunis, which is about two hours’ flying time.”
There will be a stopover in Tunis, where the team will train for a few days. Once everybody has reported for camp, they will embark on a 300km road trip to their final destination in Sfax – where, Kujane believes, he secured the best conditions for coach Stuart Baxter and his team.
“The team hotel in Sfax is about eight minutes from the stadium, Stade Municipal Taïeb Mhiri.”
Kujane said a lot had changed since he first got involved in the logistical arrangements for our national teams to travel around.
He was recommended for the job he has held for more than two decades by the late Solomon “Stix” Morewa and Molefi Oliphant, both former Safa presidents.
“When I started with the Under-23s in 1994, we experienced a lot of problems because there was virtually no prior facility inspection and we went around the continent almost blindfolded. The language barrier can also make the job difficult.”
Kujane recalled the troubles he experienced while on duty, such as having been detained in Angola and Ivory Coast for breaching protocol while waiting for the team at the airport.
He also got entangled in nasty situations while trying to stand up against those who were bullying Bafana when they played on pitches away from home.
“I was once involved in a fist fight with soldiers on the pitch in Zambia and Burundi. I don’t know what I was thinking, especially in a situation where I was surrounded by soldiers and facing AK-47 rifles. But in those fights, I became friends with some people; they still remember me when we go to their countries,” he laughed.
Having contacts on the continent is what this amiable official thrives on.
“We don’t use the embassies a lot as they are also guests in those countries. Instead, we work with national football federations. Also, I have contacts in most of the foreign countries to help me gather extra information.”
As he reflected on his career, Kujane listed among his highlights the Under-23s qualifying for their maiden Olympics in 2000; Bafana reaching the 2015 Afcon; and Banyana Banyana qualifying for their first Olympics in 2012.
And the disappointments?
“The biggest disappointment is when you put all the hard work into helping with team preparations and they fail to qualify,” said the married father of four boys.
“We failed a number of times with the Under-23s. Bafana also failed to qualify for the last two World Cups [in Brazil in 2014 and Russia last year] and the 2017 Afcon.”
How long does he think he can carry on? His answer is short and sweet: “Safa president Danny Jordaan told the executive: ‘This man is going to be in Bafana until he tells me he’s tired.’”
However, Kujane sadly indicated that there was no one he was grooming to succeed him beyond his “13 lives”.
