THE 2002 FIFA World Cup hopes of our national team have been soundly thrashed by teams with more hunger and determination. Trounced by an embarrassing 8-0 loss in their opener, our boys managed to add another feather to their soiled gym bags. They achieved that by capturing the inglorious honor of being the first team eliminated in this competition.
Now, were it not for the heralding press releases leading right up to the game about how good this team was, one could be excused for witnessing such a pitiful performance in their opening game against a well-prepared German team. But the papers were full of it on how well the team was prepared, how trained and fit they were, and how likely it was for them to advance to the next round of 16.
The public was led to believe that this indeed was the cup where honors were to be bestowed upon our national team. So much effort had been poured into the preparations for the games, that nothing short of some thumping victories would be enough to satisfy the rooters. But the reality took most by astonishment and disbelief. And then, suddenly, the day of reckoning came and the truth was exposed.
A reader sent me the following immediately after the game against Germany. Waleed wrote, "Why is everyone so surprised at Saudi Arabia’s humiliating defeat by Germany in the World Cup? Although it is an achievement to qualify for the World Cup, that poor team was a microcosm of our country. Unfortunately they reflect everything that is wrong in our society on a larger scale."
He continued, "Poor preparation, inflated opinion of their ability, no strategy, no planning, and unfit for the task.. As one of my friends said, ‘We need a mirror to look at ourselves, and a window to look at the rest of the world.’"
And indeed there is much truth in what Waleed has to say. This conundrum we witness spreads far beyond the boundaries of our team’s performance in Korea. Our growing lack of discipline, our diminishing regard of civic sense and a multitude of other social ills have indeed contributed to this state in which we exist today.
And confronted by a press, which by and large spouts out glowing reports on all and sundry, the truth gets buried deep in the sand. When will we really begin to address these problems facing our society today? A society that has come to take for granted and as a matter of fact what many in the rest of the world have to sweat for?
And when will accountability of those entrusted in running public service organizations take fold? Or should we wait for another surprise, similar to the tragedy that befell the school in Makkah? For too long, department heads in the public sector have treated the public enterprises they are supposed to manage as their own, created for their welfare and well being, with the "public be damned" more often than not.
A few of those appointed to such positions have used this trust wisely, while others have chosen to abuse it for personal gain. The concept that "the department works for me" rather than the other way around has long settled into their psyches. They have allowed themselves personal liberties beyond the reasonable or the palatable.
And this abuse of the public trust is invariably accompanied with a price. A price in the form of inefficiencies and over-bloated bureaucracies, and shoddy services to the public. Not to mention the loss of a proper work ethic or morale within their respective domains. And what of strategy? There apparently seems to be none other than to ensure that their PR departments squelch any probing questions or intrusions.
Finally, one shouldn’t be too surprised at what our team did in their quest for the cup. Their performance was simply a reflection of our society’s ills.
And while some may take comfort in the team’s performance in the game against players from the African country of Cameroon, all I can respond with was that it was far too little and sadly a bit too late. Will this continue to be our way to continue greeting the new millennium?
