SAFA being watched: official

 　　CAPE¹ TOWN, March 7 (Xinhua) -- The South African Football Association (SAFA) is being watched for its behavior, sports ministry² spokesperson Paena Galane said on Wednesday.

　　Galane reminded SAFA that it is owned by the public and not by its leaders. Galane said: "We needed to re-clarify to SAFA that SASCOC (the SA Sports Confederation and Olympic Committee) will play a watchful³ role over them, just as they do with other sports federations⁴."

　　"SASCOC will oversee⁵ each and every one of them (the sports federations) because there is no way that the minister will run around after the different federations."

　　SAFA has been under increased pressure following a string of poor performances by the national team Bafana Bafana in the past year.

　　Bafana Bafana failed to qualify for the second successive continental⁶ showpiece, the Africa Cup of Nations, while the junior sides - the SA Under-23s and SA Under-20s - failed in their respective Olympic qualifiers and regional COSAFA (Council of Southern African Football Associations) Championship tournaments.

　　Bafana Bafana reached its highest ranking of 16th in the world in the 1990s, but since then it has steadily⁷ declined.

　　SAFA said earlier that it has worked out a plan to become a world force again.

　　All the national teams would be in the top three in Africa by 2020 and inside the world's top 20 in the longer term, according to the plan.

　　"We want to be in the top three at all national levels on the continent and inside the top 20 in the world," said SAFA's chief executive Robin⁸ Petersen.

1 cape   

n.海角，岬；披肩，短披风

参考例句：

• I long for a trip to the Cape of Good Hope.我渴望到好望角去旅行。
• She was wearing a cape over her dress.她在外套上披着一件披肩。

2 ministry   

n.(政府的)部；牧师

参考例句：

• They sent a deputation to the ministry to complain.他们派了一个代表团到部里投诉。
• We probed the Air Ministry statements.我们调查了空军部的记录。

3 watchful   

adj.注意的，警惕的

参考例句：

• The children played under the watchful eye of their father.孩子们在父亲的小心照看下玩耍。
• It is important that health organizations remain watchful.卫生组织保持警惕是极为重要的。

4 federations   

n.联邦( federation的名词复数 )；同盟；联盟；联合会

参考例句：

• These problems are women's special problems and special work of women's federations. 这样的问题，就是妇女的特殊问题，就是妇联的特殊工作。 来自互联网
• The Bridge Federate is a feasible solution to achieve multi-federations interconnection. 基于桥接成员实现多联邦互连是目前较为通用和可行的方法。 来自互联网

5 oversee   

vt.监督，管理

参考例句：

• Soldiers oversee the food handouts.士兵们看管着救济食品。
• Use a surveyor or architect to oversee and inspect the different stages of the work.请一位房产检视员或建筑师来监督并检查不同阶段的工作。

6 continental   

adj.大陆的，大陆性的，欧洲大陆的

参考例句：

• A continental climate is different from an insular one.大陆性气候不同于岛屿气候。
• The most ancient parts of the continental crust are 4000 million years old.大陆地壳最古老的部分有40亿年历史。

7 steadily   

adv.稳定地；不变地；持续地

参考例句：

• The scope of man's use of natural resources will steadily grow.人类利用自然资源的广度将日益扩大。
• Our educational reform was steadily led onto the correct path.我们的教学改革慢慢上轨道了。

8 robin   

n.知更鸟，红襟鸟

参考例句：

• The robin is the messenger of spring.知更鸟是报春的使者。
• We knew spring was coming as we had seen a robin.我们看见了一只知更鸟，知道春天要到了。