For a while it sounded as though Danny Jordaan was laying down the law. And it made for interesting listening.
In a country where the professional football league has for a long time held sway over the game’s governing body, it was interesting to finally hear that normality would finally reign.
“If players are selected to play for the national team, then they will represent the country. Remember we are the governing body of football in this country and I hope that the clubs understand that,” the Safa president said yesterday.
Jordaan was responding to a question about whether the national Under-20 side that leaves for Senegal tonight to compete in the Africa Youth Championships will have all the players announced in the squad. After all the likes of Ajax Cape Town and SuperSport United had indicated they might be reluctant to release some of their players.
He was incensed that on a day when the country was celebrating the Under-17’s qualification for the World Cup there should be suggestions some clubs would want to curtail Safa’s Vision 2022 by withholding players key to the junior teams’ success.
The absence of Ajax’s Rivaldo Coetzee from Thabo Senong’s squad raised eyebrows, with some of the view the Urban Warriors had refused to release their star defender. But even here, Jordaan was adamant the national association were not pandering to the PSL’s whims.
“There was a decision taken a while back that players such as Rivaldo, who are entrenched in the senior squad, could be excused from the junior sides to allow him time with his club.”
And this should in no way be seen as Safa allowing the clubs to dictate, far from it.
For, as Jordaan explained, the two bodies were in consultation with regards to the two junior tournaments.
“We must thank the PSL chairman Dr Irvin Khoza and the clubs because this squad has been put together through their co-operation.
“We can’t have uncertainty when we have selected the teams and in this regard the clubs have really helped us.”
No laying down the law as to who is boss then but rather teamwork between Safa and the PSL, which is exactly what our football needs. And if this is how things are going to be going forward, there can be no doubt that the future is bright.
The U-17s are going to Chile in October and the U-20s might go New Zealand in May for their own World Cup. And then there will be the Olympic qualifiers for the Under-23s.
So a lot of the PSL clubs are going to have to make do without their younger players and with the new Safa and PSL partnership we can look forward to being represented by the strongest sides possible. - The Star