Johannesburg - The fierce battle between the SA Schools Football Association (Sasfa) and the controlling body – the SA Football Association (Safa) – looks set to drag on after Judge Justice Nkosi hands down his ruling.
Safa want to completely take over the running of schools football, but Sasfa refuse to play dead and want the law to decide their fate.On Monday, the Johannesburg High Court was the setting for the turf war involving the two associations, with Sasfa desperate for clarity on why Safa endorsed a resolution to dissolve them at their extraordinary congress in September last year.
In a statement on Tuesday, Sasfa claimed what appears to be a hollow victory in their belief that Safa have backtracked. “The highlight of the court argument was the concession by Norman Arendse (Safa’s legal counsel) that Sasfa have the right to organise schools football without interference.
And that it was not Safa’s intention to dissolve or to obstruct Sasfa in organising schools football activities,” the statement read. Judge Nkosi has reserved judgment to a date still to be announced, but Sasfa president Mandla Mazibuko reiterated that the outcome would have no bearing on his organisation, which has been in control of schools football for two decades.
However, Safa chief executive Dennis Mumble said Sasfa were operating on “disinformation” since the extraordinary congress held in Cape Town seven months ago. There have also been suggestions that Safa want Sasfa – who have been members of the governing body for 12 years – out of the picture in order to absorb all their lucrative sponsors, which include McDonald’s (who renewed their deal for a further three years on April 6), Danone and Copa Coca-Cola.
“They have been running this campaign that we want to dissolve them and they even put that in the court papers. That is disinformation because they are a juristic entity, which we cannot just whisk away,” Mumble explained. “What we have done is remove their license to run schools football. Safa should take over that responsibility.
In fact, as of the end of February, we began rolling out our schools programmes.”Asked what action Safa would take in the likelihood that their projects run parallel to those of Sasfa, Mumble said he believed their former affiliates would come across countless stumbling blocks.
”We cannot stop them from doing what they want, but they will run into problems,” he said. “Without being one of our members, they will be without our resources, hence they are fighting this in court.”Sasfa enjoy the support of top teacher’s unions – among them the South African Democratic Teachers Union and National Professional Teachers’ Organisation of South Africa – to continue overseeing schools football.
And at the launch of the McDonald’s Under-14 schools league earlier this month, the Gauteng MEC of Education, Panyaza Lesufi, was in attendance to make sure the event was a success as there were doubts it would be halted.
The Star