Does Gayton McKenzie realise Fifa won’t allow government interference at Safa?
Gayton McKenzie’s controversial call for SA Football Association president Danny Jordaan’s resignation over Bafana Bafana’s World Cup qualification highlights his penchant for bold, patriotic statements, but risks breaching Fifa’s strict no-government-interference policy. Picture: Oupa Mokoena / Independent Newspapers
Image: Oupa Mokoena / Independent Newspapers
Sports, Arts and Culture Minister Gayton McKenzie always seems to want to prove his patriotism, and that often leads to loud and outrageous statements, but this won’t sit well with Fifa.
This is after McKenzie said he would have pushed for SA Football Association (Safa) president Danny Jordaan’s resignation if Bafana Bafana didn’t qualify for the Fifa World Cup.
The fact of the matter is that Fifa does not allow government interference in football. Therefore, had McKenzie actually seen that Jordaan was dismissed, Fifa could have been well within their rights to ban SA from international football.
Of course, whether or not McKenzie actually told Jordaan he expected his resignation should Bafana not qualify for the World Cup can’t be verified.
McKenzie’s Patriotic Statements: A Mix of Humour and Controversy
Instead, it’s more likely that this was just another instance of McKenzie trying to make a big statement in an attempt to prove his patriotism.
He doesn’t need to do this. We get it. McKenzie loves South Africa and its sportspeople. That’s why he’s at every major event and will often grab headlines with his loud statements or actions like celebrating wildly on the pitch at Mbombela Stadium moments after Bafana qualified for the World Cup.
Statements like when the Proteas returned from winning the World Test Championship (WTC) in June, and McKenzie said the closest he ever came to playing cricket was when he was trying to carry out attacks with a cricket bat during his time as a gang boss.
That’s the thing though, McKenzie has a sharp sense of humour and he uses that to his advantage as it will always overshadow sportspeople at a press conference with his outlandish statements.
The one statement that didn’t land well was his comments about Jordaan.
Perhaps someone in his office should show McKenzie the Fifa rulebook so he can choose his words and statements a little more wisely.
* The views expressed are not necessarily the views of IOL or Independent Media.
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