South African Football Association (Safa) bosses are urging their members to be brave and fearless, and to adopt proposed changes that could drastically change the landscape of South African football at their ordinary congress today.
The recommended changes have not gone down well with PSL bosses, who decided to snub the Safa indaba on Friday and Saturday, and today’s ordinary congress.
A Safa official who opted to remain anonymous, said that the congress was attended by Caf and Fifa and that Safa can adopt the proposed resolutions.
“PSL is a Special Member and football statutes are drawn and ratified by Safa as the governing body,” said the official.
Safa is the football custodian in the country and the PSL the body in charge of professional club football. Irvin Khoza is PSL chairman, while Danny Jordaan is Safa president.
Another high-ranking Safa official told Sunday World that with Fifa and Caf at the indaba supporting the national association, it was time for policy makers who are there to show that they are brave and not afraid to implement change.
Safa held its NEC meeting and strategic session on Friday and Saturday at Emperors Palace in Ekurhuleni.
Today, it will convene its ordinary congress, where the mooted changes are expected to be rubber-stamped.
Among the proposals that have angered the PSL are the club licensing issues, the proposal for coaches in the PSL to have Caf A licence certificates, the DStv Diski Challenge competition and the professionalisation of women’s football.
However, the PSL is of the opinion that Safa wants to shut down professional football and that by attending the congress, it will be tacitly approving the resolutions. So, the next step is to meet with Caf president Patrice Motsepe and report the actions of its member association for violating its own constitution. PSL claims that Safa, by discussing matters relating to professional football in a meeting where the body whose mandate is to run football is not in attendance, is in violation of its own constitution.
Safa CEO Tebogo Motlanthe said that league’s decision to snub the weekend’s events caught him by surprise.
“When you get a letter without informing you of the reasons, you need to get the reasons first before you respond,” Motlanthe said. “We are seeking more information as to what the issues are and after hearing their side, we will see if we can meet and resolve the issues,” said Motlanthe.
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