Television's "singing weatherman" Jabu Sithole had the most unfortunate slip of the tongue at the launch of the Nelson Mandela Challenge last week.
Acting as MC for the function at Ellis Park stadium, Sithole introduced Albert Mokoena by saying the then South African Football Association's (Safa) acting chief executive officer was looking very "elegant" and "sleazy" in his dapper dark suit.
Sithole meant to say "snazzy", but it didn't quite come out right and Mokoena - who fell on his sword and resigned as Safa's acting CEO after a messy personal incident last week - didn't look at all impressed.
Mokoena, who joined Safa as chief operations officer in January 2002, has the kind of curriculum vitae that qualifies him to be the country's next president, let alone a football official.
In 1996 he received the Bob Cousy International Humanitarian Award in the United States, receiving it jointly with no less a figure than the Reverend Jesse Jackson.
He was also a winner of the Financial Mail/J&B Rare Achievers award in the commerce and industry category in 1989 and received the Kellogg/ Black Management Forum Excellence in Achievement Award in 1999. In addition to that, among a string of academic qualifications, the 43-year-old holds a postgraduate diploma in service industry management from the University of Philadelphia, as well as an MBA from the University of the Witwatersrand.
However, for all his impressive credentials on paper, Mokoena could never shake the "sleazy" reputation that dogged him after a contentious two-and-a-half-year spell as the director-general of the department of home affairs.
Mokoena resigned as home affairs director-general on September 11, 1999, days before he was due to be fired by then minister of home affairs Mangosuthu Buthelezi.
Buthelezi ordered an inquiry into Mokoena after allegations that he ran a professional basketball club, the Soweto Panthers, from his Pretoria Home Affairs office and used state vehicles to transport his players.
There were also allegations that Mokoena arranged for foreign nationals playing for the Panthers to receive South African identity documents.
Former Labour Court Acting Judge Puke Maserumule released the report into Mokoena, in which he advised Buthelezi to direct Mokoena to resign.
"Mr Mokoena's conduct has been of such a nature that it constitutes a breach of trust and confidence which underpins his employment relationship with me," Buthelezi said at the time.
It therefore came as a huge shock, after all the negative publicity Mokoena received during his tenure at Home Affairs and his ignominious departure, when he was appointed as Safa's chief operations officer in January 2002.
And with Mokoena at the helm, Safa lurched from one crisis to the next. It was announced last month that Safa was some R50-million in debt.
Still, despite Safa's dire financial predicament, Mokoena still saw fit recently to announce hefty $1,5-million 2010 World Cup bonuses for Irvin Khoza, Danny Jordaan and Molefi Oliphant.
Mokoena's statement that he "made it clear to the three gentlemen that I will pay them as soon as the money is available" raised eyebrows as to his management skills.
This year, too, Safa has been hard hit by being forced to pay millions in settlements.
Safa had to pay former Bafana Bafana coach Shakes Mashaba a whopping R2,3-million in compensation after firing him a day before Bafana left for the 2004 African Nations Cup in Tunisia.
And last month, the organisation had to pay Dutch coach Clemens Westerhof more than R1-million after promising him the Bafana job, then changing its mind.
A month ago, Safa was also ordered by the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration to pay Louis Tshakoane around R400 000 for his unfair dismissal as manager of South Africa's under-23 team.
A host of CCMA cases involving Safa are still pending.
After receiving his windfall from Safa, Tshakoane lashed out at Mokoena in a newspaper interview.
"This guy is slowly killing this game, while people watch and do nothing. Something has to be done if we are to save this beautiful game from total collapse. This man has cost the association millions and those who put him there seem oblivious to the damage he has done to the game. I urge Mokoena to do the right thing and leave the running of soccer to capable people such as Danny Jordaan," said Tshakoane.
The question now is whether Jordaan will take over from where Mokoena rather controversially left off.