Safa national executive committee (NEC) members are at loggerheads after a controversial company, Sports Fusion Technology (SFT), established by an adult entertainment businessman, entered the football space after being roped in by the Football Transformation Forum (FTF), which is spearheading Safa president Danny Jordaan’s presidential election campaign.
A Sunday World company search has revealed that businessman Arthur Calamaras, who is a major player in the porn industry, was the sole director of SFT, but fascinatingly, he resigned last week, on February 5, from the company.
On the same day of the resignation, Cape Town businessman Aidan Daniel Soule took over as director. The company remains active, indicating a transfer of control rather than closure.
The company has built a substantial footprint in sports and events through companies such as Global Sports, Global Sports and Entertainment Agency, SA Music Festival and Women’s Rugby South Africa.
NEC members who spoke to Sunday World cited their unhappiness and dissatisfaction with being in cahoots with a company that shares its registered
address with Adult World Group and other pornography retail operations.
Two weeks ago, members of the FTF held their campaign meeting in Bloemfontein, which was funded by SFT. At the meeting, where Jordaan was one of the delegates, the FTF members wore blue T-shirts emblazoned with FTF branding and SFT logos at the front and the back. SFT officials did the registrations, handed out T-shirts and caps and also took pictures of delegates.
The delegates were booked at the City Lodge and Kopanong Lodge in Bloemfontein.
Calamaras resigned just after the Bloemfontein gathering.
The FTF is a movement specifically formed to preserve the status quo at Safa. It was the same movement that propelled Jordaan to the top seat in 2013 at the elective congress, held at a swanky lodge adjacent to Leeuwkop Prison in Sunninghill, where the media was transported under stringent security in a tightly monitored bus.
And even though Jordaan has not publicly stated that he will be standing for a fourth term, this newspaper has it on good authority that Jordaan’s campaign is in full swing and has gained traction. This year’s presidential elections will most likely take place after the 2026 Fifa World Cup in June/July.
Part of the bigger plan, according to one of the FTF delegates, is for the SFT to take over from MySAFA, which is the association’s official player registration and competition management system and the only Fifa-integrated platform in SA.
With over 500 000 Fifa-registered players, Safa is number one among CAF member associations. MySAFA contract runs until 2029 and the NEC members are worried about a breach of contract that could result in court cases or even a lawsuit.
Said an enraged NEC member: “I do not know why we would want to associate ourselves with such companies. We have teenage girls and young boys playing in our development structures; what message are we sending?”
Safa CEO Lydia Monyepao was not available, and she did not reply to questions sent to her.
Safa NEC member and chairman of the FTF national working committee Tankiso Modipa, said: “I am not aware that is the case (SFT links with pornography business). We approached different service providers … the due diligence was done, with our attorneys involved.
“The information that Sports Fusion Technology is associated with porn and sex companies is new to me, and we did our research before we signed with them. It was not only them who sponsored our workshop in Bloemfontein, so all the companies we had sponsoring the workshop are reputable companies, as far as we know,
“FTF members are also important figures in the communities from different provinces and towns. I don’t think they will associate themselves with any illegal activities that will harm their personal image, or that of FTF, myself included.”
Sunday World contacted Calamaras about the relationship between SFT and FTF. “I don’t know what you are talking about, buddy,” before he cut the call.
He did not respond to WhatsApp or e-mails.
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