| SAFA irons out emblem problem - 26/03/2010 |
SAFA announced that, following consultation with stakeholders, Protea badges would be made available to the public by the end of next week. The announcement comes after much speculation around the lack of a Protea badge on the Bafana replica jersey. ’All supporters who now wish to wear the Protea on their Bafana replica jerseys can do so by purchasing an iron-on Protea badge, at the recommended retail price from R20, from retailers stocking genuine Bafana replica jerseys,’ said SAFA CE Leslie Sedibe.
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Full Sport24 report
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| Disabled people march to SAFA – 25/03/2010 |
SA Disability Alliance (Sada) members burnt tyres at SAFA house south of Johannesburg in protest against the lack of accessibility of 2010 World Cup stadia to people with disabilities, notes a report on the IoL site. Sada executive Ari Seirlis said the alliance was not burning tyres because it was fashionable, but because it indicated the pain of the disabled at not being able to attend any of the 2010 World Cup matches. ’We want to be there, we want to be part of the action, but the stadia are not ready to accommodate us,’ he said.
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Full report on the IoL site
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| Bafana manager ordered to shape up - 14/03/2010 |
The knives are out for Bafana Bafana team manager Sipho Nkumane. He did not travel to Brazil with the squad and has been told to get his act together by SAFA CE Leslie Sedibe. The Times reports that Nkumane is accused, among other things, of not submitting reports and budgets, which resulted in Bafana players being paid late for the friendly against Zimbabwe. It is alleged that Nkumane has also not presented budgets for the camp in Brazil, the one in Germany next month and for one in Johannesburg prior to the 2010 World Cup.
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Full report in The Times
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| Trademark battle turns nasty - 13/03/2010 |
A nasty trademark battle has broken out between SAFA and a small independent record label after one of their groups named their latest album Bafana Bafana. Now the label, Bula Music, is being ordered to remove 10 000 CDs of the KZN maskandi band AmaSAP from shop shelves and destroy all extra album covers in stock to avoid further infringing on the soccer trademark. Bula music boss Harvey Roberts told The Star it was ridiculous that artists could not support the national soccer team in their own way. But SAFA’s licensing and marketing arm, Slam, says the words Bafana Bafana and the soccer jersey worn on the cover of the album are both trademarked to the association.
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Full report in The Star
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| Wits named as Bafana training base - 11/03/2010 |
Sturrock Park at Wits University was named as Bafana Bafana’s training base for the 2010 World Cup. According to a report on the IoL site, SAFA CEO Leslie Sedibe made the announcement after the soccer body broke off their agreement with Sandown High School in Sandton, apparently because they couldn’t agree on the terms of the contract. Wits will also host the Netherlands soccer team on their East Campus, while the West Campus will serve as a park and ride facility.
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Full report on the IOL site
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| Bafana need a home - 28/02/2010 |
Bafana Bafana might have been the first team to qualify for the 2010 World Cup, but they were the last to secure a base in their own country. The search for a camp became desperate and Safa applied for R16-million from the National Lottery Board to resuscitate and renovate the Transnet School of Excellence and use it as a 2010 World Cup base camp. With the help of the South African Sports Confederation and Olympic Committee (Sascoc) , the process was fast-tracked and the funding approved.
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Full Times report
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| Bus tour in SA to promote WC - 26/02/2010 |
The South African Football Association will take its new team bus on a six-week tour of the country as it attempts to convince local fans to get behind the host nation at the 2010 World Cup. South Africa will celebrate the 100-day countdown to the 2010 tournament next week when it plays neighbor Namibia in a friendly in Durban, but the local organising committee has admitted to disappointing ticket sales for the host’s 2010 World Cup games. Sport24 reports that the apparent lack of interest has now spurred SAFA to take Bafana Bafana’s new vehicle, which it unveiled this week, across the country.
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Full Sport24 report
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| Bafana’s plans catch school off guard - 23/02/2010 |
When Oupa Keele heard the reports that the Bafana Bafana team had moved their training camp for the World Cup to Sandown High School, he was shocked. As chairman of the school’s governing body, he was left in the dark about this move. And Keele said he wasn’t the only one. According to him, the school’s headmaster was also not aware of the SAFA announcement. The Star reports that despite the announcement, Keele argued that ’it’s not a given’ that the school grounds would be used as the national team’s training camp. He said they would need to ’negotiate with other stakeholders’ as some have other proposals for the facilities during the World Cup.
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Full report in The Star
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| SAFA moves Bafana training base – 21/02/2010 |
Bafana Bafana have been forced to move their training camp for the 2010 World Cup finals to the Sandown High School. The move was confirmed by the new South African Football Association CEO Leslie Sedibe who labelled it as ’embarrassing.’
Bafana head coach Carlos Parreira was planning to use the Esselen Park School of Excellence when he begins work at home in May with Bafana, notes a report on the IoL site. However, the complex is badly run down and it would take about R16 million to renovate.
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Full report on the IoL site
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| Moves to clamp down on fake jerseys – 19/02/201 |
The South African Football Association (Safa) is to launch a nationwide campaign to print the national emblem onto all Bafana Bafana replica jerseys that have been sold without one. According to a report on the IOL site, fake Bafana shirts with the Protea emblem are being sold from R180 to R500 on the streets while the authentic replica jersey without the emblem costs R599.
The exact replica jersey costs R1 500.
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Full report on the IOL site
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| New jerseys to bear star symbol - 17/02/2010 |
The new jersey to be used by Bafana Bafana during the 2010 World Cup will have a star symbol on top of the South African Football Association emblem. The Sowetan reports that the assurance was made by SAFA president Kirsten Nematandani after meetings with technical sponsors Adidas. SAFA and Adidas discussed the absence of the Protea emblem on Bafana replica jerseys. Many South Africans are unhappy that replicas of the new home jersey, launched in November, do not have the Protea emblem.
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Full report in The Sowetan
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| SAFA settles R3m Chilean claim for R1.25m – 11/02/2010 |
The SA Football Association (Safa) has settled a R3m claim from their Chilean counterparts for breach of contract for R1.25m – and remained on harmonious terms with the South Americans in the process, says a report in The Herald. Details of the settlement were made known after a legal expose of Safa’s muddled organising – relating to Bafana Bafana’s failure to honour a return game against Chile early next month. Among the conditions of the accord are the payment of R1.25m to the Chilean Federation which will go towards the costs involved in coming to SA last year and making arrangements for next month’s aborted fixture; and that Bafana Bafana will travel to Chile for an international fixture in 2011 at Safa’s expense.
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Full report in The Herald
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| SAFA and Chile reach deal on friendly – 01/02/2010 |
SAFA and Chile soccer bosses have struck a deal on the March 3 friendly, resulting in the South Americans dropping a potentially explosive lawsuit against Bafana Bafana. The Sowetan reports that the enraged Chileans were in the country last week on a two-pronged mission the 2010 World Cup inspection and to inform SAFA about their plans to take legal action for breach of contract. After Chile beat Bafana 2-0 at the old Peter Mokaba Stadium in Polokwane last February, it was agreed the two sides would play a reciprocal match in Santiago on March 3. Following the return of Brazilian Carlos Parreira as Bafana coach, the Chile match was postponed indefinitely.
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Full report in The Sowetan
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| SAFA president lauds 2010 stadia – 25/01/2010 |
SAFA president Kirsten Nematandani has congratulated Polokwane and Cape Town for delivering on their promise of building world-class stadiums for the 2010 World Cup. The Sowetan reports that his comments came after successful matches were staged at the Peter Mokaba Sports Complex and Cape Town Stadium, marking the official opening of the venues. ’The fact that the two facilities passed the first readiness test without problems is a sign that all our facilities will be ready for use. With the exception of Soccer City and Mbombela Stadium, we have tested all the facilities . The technical committee of the LOC is working with municipalities to improve on the challenges raised during the games,’ said Nematandani.
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Full report in The Sowetan
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| SAFA having cash flow problems? – 22/01/2010 |
SAFA is struggling with cash flow problems, the Mail & Guardian reported. The weekly newspaper said it had access to SAFA’s bank accounts which showed a negative balance of more than R7.4 million. It said other SAFA documents showed that it also owed suppliers another R7 million. Sports24 reports that a senior SAFA official, who was not named in the report, said the situation was even bleaker than that. ’We are close to R10 million in the red, excluding what we need to pay our suppliers,’ he said.
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Full Sports24 report
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| SAFA to blame for fixture fiasco – 22/01/2010 |
Carlos Parreira has reluctantly acceded to the Premier Soccer League’s request for an extension to the season after the South African Football Association admitted they were to blame for the fixture fiasco. The Star reports that it has emerged that the PSL informed SAFA as far back as October that the continental fixtures could necessitate a change in their schedule, yet the mother body took no action then. SAFA chief executive Leslie Sedibe acknowledged the PSL wrote to SAFA on October 4 last year, just after the Confederation of African Football had released their dates for 2010, making them aware that the season could run longer.
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Full report in The Star
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| SAFA slams soccer icon – 18/01/2010 |
Brazillian soccer icon Edson Arantes do Nascimento is the last person who should complain about security issues in South Africa ahead of the 2010 World Cup. The Sowetan reports that SAFA boss Kirsten Nematandani said the man, popularly known as Pele, had been to this country many times and left without a scratch. Nematandani was reacting to reports in which Pele was quoted as saying the attack on the Togolese national team in Angola would have an effect on the security of the World Cup. ’We want to assure the world that they will be safe in South Africa,’ said Nematandani, who is also a board member of the LOC. He said Bafana coach Carlos Alberto Parreira and many other Brazilians felt safe here.
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Full report in The Sowetan
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| Safa out to lift Bafana 2010 sales - 14/01/2010 |
SAFA is so concerned about the poor 2010 World Cup ticket sales for Bafana Bafana that they plan to embark on a campaign to mobilise South Africans to embrace the team. ’We need to create a vibe in South Africa for the World Cup,’ said new Safa chief executive Lesley Sedibe yesterday. ’We need to make sure that our people rally behind Bafana Bafana. The first thing we need to do is to identify what the challenges faced by our people are regarding the issue of tickets.’
The Safa CE said he was disappointed that most World Cup tickets bought in South Africa were for teams like England, Germany, Italy and Argentina.
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Full report in The Sowetan
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| Into the Safa hot seat - 14/01/2010 |
Leslie Sedibe, the suave lawyer who has just taken over the reins as CEO of the SA Football Association (Safa), has managed to use his legal training to access some of the most interesting opportunities on offer. He has overseen the careers of some of SA’s biggest music stars, including the late Brenda Fassie, as a lawyer for EMI records; he has run the country’s flagship music awards; served on the interim SABC board, which he says was ’fun’; helped the country prepare for the upcoming World Cup; and now runs the football association. Sedibe is unfazed by concerns that he does not have a football background or that he is stepping into the vipers’ nest that is SA football.
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Full Financial Mail report
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| SAFA search for next SA coach - 12/01/2010 |
The next Bafana Bafana coach would be a true-blue South African - and the appointment of a third assistant coach to Carlos Alberto Parreira for the World Cup, remained in the pipeline. Urbane SA Football Association president Kirsten Nematandani, revealed on Tuesday that ’both these decisions are cast in stone - and there is no going back on what forms an integral part of our vision for the future’. Nematandani said the desirability of having a South African coach at the helm of Bafana had long been accepted - but gnawing doubts had existed about whether there was a local candidate with the international experience and know-how for the enormous undertaking.
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Full Sport 24 report
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| Hack ’resignation’ probed - 12/01/2010 |
The SA Football Association and its former chief executive, Raymond Hack, says Hack was not ’fired’ but left his job voluntarily. In a letter to The Times, Safa and Hack said: ’These statements [that Hack was axed] are quite simply untrue.’ Hack, criticised for failing to take action over Bafana Bafana’s string of dismal performances in the past six years, was fired (or resigned) on Wednesday. But, in their letter, Safa and Hack yesterday denied that there was any ill feeling or dispute surrounding Hack’s ’departure’, which they say was discussed as early as last month.
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Full report in The Times
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| FIFA wants Safa to be streetwise - 12/01/2010 |
The South African Football Association (Safa) which is presently headed up by a fairly new administration following the appointment of fresh faces in its hierarchy, have been made streetwise by football’s world-controlling body Fifa at a two-day conference which ended at Robben Island. A three-man Safa delegation headed by Safa president Kirsten Nematandani told the media at a conference in Cape Town that his organisation will benefit greatly from the advice and guidance that Fifa handed down to them. ’We have had a very fruitful leadership retreat conducted by Fifa and we are very excited by what we’ve been exposed to,’ said Nematandani.
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Full report in The Times
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| SAFA challenges media reports - 11/01/2010 |
The SAFA/ FIFA strategic retreat at Robben Island this past weekend was fully funded by Football’s world governing body FIFA. SAFA President Kirsten Nematandani says the strategic lekgotla has paved a way for the leadership of SAFA to transform football and to ensure that the 2010 FIFA World Cup leaves a lasting football legacy for the people of South Africa. In a statement, SAFA said it is once more disturbed by concerted efforts by Sunday World reporters to discredit the new leadership of football. SAFA President Kirsten Nematandani says Sunday World’s reportage that the Association parted ways with former CEO Raymond Hack because he ’refused to splash out R600 000 on a FIFA Workshop on Robben Island’, is mischievous, and it goes against the basic principle of journalism.
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Full media release
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| Power shift loosens Khoza’s grip - 10/01/2010 |
The swift replacement of Raymond Hack with fellow lawyer Leslie Sedibe as the SA Football Association’s (Safa) chief executive could have two different implications. On the one hand, it could set the tone for a bruising battle for the control of South Africa’s number one sport once the World Cup is over. It should be remembered that Fifa has asked local football’s warring factions to keep a truce until July 11. But it is far more likely that Hack’s premature departure signals a loosening of Irvin Khoza’s iron grip on the game. Hack was a close ally of local organising committee chairperson Khoza in the Safa presidential elections in September last year, in which the relatively unknown Kirsten Nematandani was ushered in as president of the organisation. Since then Hack’s days have been numbered.
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Full Mail & Guardian report
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| Sedibe new SAFA CEO – 07/01/2010 |
Top lawyer Leslie Sedibe has been named as the new SA Football Association CEO, replacing Raymond Hack whose services were terminated this week. The 2010 World Cup Local Organising Committee legal adviser has signed a 12-month contract and will relinquish the position when Danny Jordaan returns from his duties with the 2010 Local Organising Committee. Hack was a close confidant of Irvin Khoza and now plays the price for his long-standing relationship with the ’Iron Duke’, who was thwarted in his bid to take control of SAFA. New SAFA president Kirsten Nematandani has spent recent months seeking to establish his power, and the installation of Sidibe is the latest step in the process. SAFA are setting up an ambitious four-year plan which Sidibe is expected to lead.
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Full Goal.com report
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| Parreira’s holiday delays 2010 plans – 04/01/2010 |
The return of Bafana Bafana coach Carlos Alberto Parreira from his Brazilian home has been delayed, something which has also resulted in the announcement of the squad for the January camp to be postponed to later this week. Parreira was expected to announce his squad a few days ago, but that could not happen as he was still in Brazil. The 23-man squad will camp in Durban from January 15-28 and will play a few friendly matches. The matches, to be played January 23-27, will be against neighbouring countries.
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Full report in The Dispatch
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| Parreira’s plan to get Bafana ready for June – 31/12/09 |
SA coach Carlos ¬Alberto ¬Parreira has drafted a gruelling programme aimed at whipping the team into shape for the ¬onerous task of impressing during the 2010 World Cup. Following the damage done by his compatriot, Joel Santana, Parreira has had to come up with something to ensure that players are at least super-fit come the tournament in June. Everybody concerned, from the SA Football Association (Safa) head honchos and the technical team to the players themselves, knows how tough a task they face. After living in the shadows of the 1996 team that won the African Cup of Nations, 2010 will be the perfect time for the current crop of players to convince all South Africans that they can stand up and be counted among the best in world football.
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Full City Press report
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| Bruising battle on the cards - 19/12/2009 |
Tumo Mokone, Sport24: Kirsten Nematandani, the new incumbent governs with lieutenants who are seen to be using a different philosophy from the previous Molefi Oliphant’s executive. Magnanimity and big decisions are expected from the new SAFA president, and with immediate effect. But after Oliphant’s 12-year reign, Nematandani and his crew deserve a little more time to settle in. However the rumour mill has it that the new executive will have a torrid time after the World Cup, fending off the ambitions of defeated faction from the landmark SAFA election in September. The losing camp is led by Irvin Khoza, whose powers in the local game were remarkably reduced by the unexpected victory by Nematandani. The new throne though, is strengthened by the fact that he is from the Danny Jordaan camp.
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Full column on the Sport24 site
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| Temporary truce in SAFA war – 14/12/2009 |
The festive season may be looming and a pyrrhic peace reigns over South African soccer as all and sundry focus attention on working towards the successful hosting of next year’s historic World Cup. But under the facade of cameraderie, it emerged on Monday, a time bomb is ticking and the explosion is designated to take place with a resounding impact not long after the World Cup Final at Soccer City on July 11. The Star reports that a truce until the completion of the World Cup, with a concerned Fifa as the insistent peacemakers, has indeed been agreed by the seemingly irreconcilible power blocs in South African soccer led by Organising Committee and PSL chairman Irvin Khoza, and that which includes new Safa president Kirsten Nematandani and has as its nominal leader LOC chief executive Danny Jordaan.
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Full report in The Star
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| Radebe in talks with SAFA – 06/12/2009 |
Lucas Radebe is in talks with SAFA to provide technical support to Bafana Bafana and the former captain says he would like to coach the national team once the World Cup is over. In an interview with Weekend Argus the former Leeds star said he was disappointed at being left out of next year’s tournament and blames SAFA administrators, among them Irvin Khosa, for slamming the door in his face. Radebe started talking to Safa three years ago, but it refused to bring him on board. Two months ago, the English Football Association named him as an ambassador to boost England’s bid to host the World Cup in 2018.
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Full Weekend Argus report
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