Johannesburg – Safa president Danny Jordaan is digging in his heels and says he will not resign amid a huge public outcry that he must step down after Bafana Bafana failed to qualify for yet another Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) tournament.
The national association’s success, or lack thereof, is judged by the results of Bafana, the flagship and the lifeblood of the organisation.
After that disappointing 2-0 loss to Sudan last Sunday, the Mzansi soccer fraternity has been calling for the head of the former Gqeberha (Port Elizabeth) mayor.
“Fact of the matter is that 30 countries did not qualify, it’s only here in South Africa that we are politicising our failure to qualify. Global football does not think I don’t have anything to offer,” said Jordaan.
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“The people who voted me to offi ce still think I have a lot to offer and, at the end of the day, they will decide. I am going to have a press conference later on to address all those issues.”
Jordaan said they were having wonderful achievements with all other national teams but people do not care and do not appreciate that feat.
He also said Bafana have been paid their full bonuses for the matches they won.
“All our teams qualified for World Cups and Afcons. The Under-17 men and women teams are doing well in world competitions. The Under-20s, both men and women, are regulars at Afcons and we have some of the best women players abroad. We have just turned around the deficit of Safa to a R54-million surplus.”
Jordaan also spoke about his absence in Sudan last week: “Of course I did not travel with the team to Sudan, everybody knows I was travelling throughout the continent and taking all these Covid-19 tests, and I decided that I was going to stay at home and recover from all the travelling. I had been to Rabat, Morocco, in recent times and needed to stay behind and not travel.”
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Although they failed to qualify for the 2021 Afcon finals, Bafana players will still get their bonuses. The players who were selected in the six-match qualifiers would have received a whopping R210 000 each after putting up a dismal performance and failing to book their tickets to Cameroon. There was a huge public outcry after South Africa were defeated 2-0 by lowly Sudan last Sunday, resulting in Bafana failing for the umpteenth time to qualify for the Afcon tournament.
Head coach Molefi Ntseki was also relieved of his job soon afterwards.
In November, during the Namibia and Zambia camp in Rustenburg, Safa bosses approached the players and put their new offer on the table.
The players’ committee, led by the captain Thulani Hlatshwayo, declined Safa’s offer.
Safa wanted to scrap the win bonuses and introduce a bigger package when they qualify.
Safa’s argument was to ask the players why they were paying them for wins when the team failed to qualify.
The current deal is that the players get R60 000 for a win, R30 000 for a draw and nothing for a loss.
This means that players who were there from the start of the qualifiers would have received R210 000.
“We think it’s unfair and the players are not accepting the new proposal. We are not happy about it and we will challenge the association. Why change and fix it when it’s not broken,” a senior player said in November.
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In this instance, Bafana won three matches, drew one and lost two matches in the recently concluded disastrous qualifiers.
Jordaan told Sunday World yesterday: “Yes, we have to pay even though they did not qualify. In fact, we have already paid them.”
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