Milovan refuses to blame Jabulani for Kingson howler

(Abdulai M. Gariba, GNA Special Correspondent, Rustenburg, South Africa)

Rustenburg, South Africa, June 21, GNA - Black Stars trainer Milovan has refused to blame "Jabulani", the controversial leather ball recommended by FIFA for the ongoing World Cup tournament, for goalkeeper Richard Kingson's blunder during the Black Stars match against Australia.

Kingson has been blamed for the Aussies opener after spilling Marco Bresciano's free-kick for Brett Holman to slam home, but Milovan has rebuffed claims from certain quarters that seek to attribute the incident to the official match ball.

Jabulani has come under a lot of criticisms from many players, coaches and officials for its swiftness and slippery nature which make it difficult to handle.

The Stars trainer acknowledged that it was a 'bad' goal conceded by his team, but refused to single out Kingson and Jabulani for any blame.

"We conceded an easy goal and it's not good for our team. We shouldn't have conceded such a goal.

"There has been a lot of attention on the ball but I don't want to comment about it. The ball is very difficult to play and you cannot know its chemistry," he said, adding "The ball is very fast and you have to know how to go about it."

Jabulani, manufactured by sports kit giants, "Adidas" was unveiled on December 4, 2009, as the official match ball for the South Africa 2010 World Cup.

Meaning "rejoice" in South African Zulu language, Jabulani has contrastingly been in the headlines for all the negative reasons.