Is football still capable of scandal?
From the Epstein files to a World Cup trailed by rape charges and a hush-money settlement, the public has gotten remarkably good at feeling outrage. What it hasn’t learned is what to do with it.
10 Article(s) by:
Lee Nxumalo
Lee Nxumalo is a writer and content producer currently based in Johannesburg. Her work explores the intersection between sports and culture.
What Bafana Bafana teaches South Africa about itself
For decades, Bafana Bafana embodied the disappointments of the democratic era. As the team recovers, South Africans are once again projecting their political aspirations and fears onto the national side.
The trouble with ‘showing the real Africa’
iShowSpeed’s Africa tour is widely celebrated as respectful and refreshing, yet it operates within a long tradition of racialized spectacle that turns Africa into content and Blackness into performance.
Where are the politics of Bafana Bafana?
While most sports in South Africa are inseparable from the national political imagination, men's football manages to stay relatively removed.
Enemies of progress
Delayed, underfunded, and undermined, this year’s Women’s Africa Cup of Nations has exposed not just neglect but active sabotage from CAF and national federations.
The verdict against womanhood
From trans bans to racial exclusion, the hard-won gains made in women’s football are being rolled back under the guise of protecting women.
The worst thing to happen to football
Gianni Infantino isn’t just another corrupt FIFA president — his greed, self-importance, and political alliances are actively ruining football.
The beautiful game’s ugly secret
The #MeToo movement exposed abuses across industries, yet men’s football remains resistant to accountability, protecting predators and sidelining survivors.
The mirage of progress in women’s football
Select success stories obscure the intentional underdevelopment of women’s football in Africa.
Hier kom die bokke
Something’s different about the reaction to South Africa’s victory at the 2023 Rugby World Cup, its fourth title.