Owen criticises system of education of young players in South Africa

System of education of young players in South Africa raises a lot of questions not only in the country, but even among of ex-Premier League stars.

Details: Balloon d’Or winner Michael Owen has stated that big stadiums have no sense, when you don't pay too much attention to development of young players.

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Quote: «Listen, it's very difficult. Very difficult unless your structure supports it. And quite clearly in South Africa, the structure supports rugby players, maybe cricket. But in terms of football, as much as it's a very, very popular sport, getting young players through the system and sufficiently educated, and I'm talking football education, sufficiently educated, a nice clear career path, the finances, the facilities, you know, it's simply not there.

So there's no point in having a 100,000-seater stadium that costs a billion pounds to build. That's the end game. If you want good players, you've got to start right at the other end. And you've got to, you know, they've got to be doing it in schools. They've got to be playing. There's got to be a pathway. There's got to be lots and lots of things that have got to be put in place to be able to do that», Owen stated, as quoted by iol.co.za.