Safa’s accountability crisis is nothing new

COMMENT

SAFA and accountability are just like the parallel lines of a railway line, destined never to meet.

This much has once again been proven by their reaction to the punishment meted out to Bafana Bafana for their having played a suspended Teboho Mokoena in that 2-0 defeat of Lesotho back in March.

To the uninitiated, world governing body Fifa have – as per the rules pertaining to the use of defaulters – overturned that victory into a 3-0 win for Lesotho. As a result, Bafana have now dropped to second spot in Group C of the qualifiers for the 2026 World Cup, behind Benin who have similar 14 points to us but enjoy a better goal difference.

Having known for a while now that there was a balls-up on their part, you’d have expected Safa to have long done their investigations to see who failed in their duties to ensure that such a blooper does not happen. But no, typical of South Africans, they wished things away, hiding behind the fact that Lesotho had not protested within the 24 hours and clearly hoping that Fifa would do nothing.

When the logical verdict from Switzerland came, Danny Jordaan and his people did not take the punishment on the chin as they should have, knowing only too well that they were in the wrong.

No, instead they are trying to find a loophole and are going to protest the decision because – wait for it – ‘we are disappointed by this unprecedented outcome noting that it was delivered by a single-member panel without reasons, and without affording the Association an opportunity to present legal arguments’.

Safa say they have requested written reasons for the judgment and intend to ‘lodge a formal appeal with the Fifa appeals committee’ within the prescribed 10-day period.

What are they going to appeal against?

That the verdict was taken ‘by a single-member panel’?

Or are they going to protest against the fact Lesotho had not lodged their complaint on time?

The reality is that Safa, not for the first time, dropped the ball and the country is suffering the consequences of their lack of professionalism. Appealing the decision is going to be nothing more than just a waste of money and time as well as an embarrassment to us as a nation.

Football rules are clear, and even when we used to play Chappies Little League way back in the 80s, we knew – fielding a defaulter results in you forfeiting the match.

The team manager of Bafana messed this one up and the association should be coming down on him like a ton of bricks. Precedence, however, suggests he should be let off scot free.

After all, his employers did not take any action way back in 2011 when those in charge of Bafana failed to read the rules regarding tie-breakers in the Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers and Itumeleng Khune and his teammates celebrated a draw against Sierra Leone thinking they’d progressed via goal difference when CAF actually went with head-to-head first.

This, in any case, is an association whose president continues to stay at the helm despite having previously promised he would not run for re-election.

At Safa, doing wrong has no consequences, as we’ve heard countless stories of players being stranded at airports because someone failed to do their bookings. And it dates to way back in the 90s and continues to this day.

Accountability just does not exist at Safa House where the Fifa 2010 Legacy money has dissipated into thin air with very little evidence of how it has been used to benefit the game.

So, excuse me for not being surprised by their reaction to Fifa's ruling on Teboho Mokoena having played while suspended.

Fortunately, Bafana still have their World Cup qualification fate in their hands. Just smash both Zimbabwe and Rwanda in the next two matches and the ticket to the global spectacle should be theirs.

My suspicion is that Nigeria are going to beat Benin in the hope that we will drop points and they can catch up if not even overtake us for the top spot.

Whatever happens though, this latest balls-up at Safa once again serves to confirm the need for a moerse overhaul at Safa House – starting right at the top. But then again this is a song we’ve been singing for years now.