DURBAN - Safa is now demanding a compliance letter that they believe was sent by the PSL to the government if they are to be liable for anything that will happen when the league action resumes.
The Board of Governors (BoG) and the PSL executive committee have a meeting on Friday.
Speaking with the South African Football Journalists Association (Safja) in a digital conference, Tebogo Motlanthe, the acting chief executive of Safa confirmed the two compliance officers (Dr Thulani Ngwenya of Safa and Michael Murphy of PSL) are yet to meet.
“I must just emphasise that meeting did not take place (between the two compliance officers) but given what the league has been saying continuously – that they have submitted everything to government – I had a discussion with the director general (of Sport and Recreation, Vusumuzi Mkhize) yesterday to say if he indeed has the information let him share with our compliance officer because the letter of the 5th (of June) from the minister put the responsibility on the association,” Motlanthesaid.
The gazette from government stated Safa will be liable for anything that will happen if the local season resume.
“We are at a stage where we say, we either get that information before the 1st (of August) and we okay it and write the report. If we don’t get that information, I’ll put a second option to the minister (Nathi Mthethwa) to say, take that responsibility away from us and exonerate us from any liabilities which may emanate from people not following what we’ve agreed on at the JLC protocol,” Motlanthe said.
It is not clear what makes it so difficult for the two bodies (Safa) to work together on this matter. Without saying it directly, the PSL has blamed Safa for not playing ball while the federation appears to have taken issue with the league dealing directly with government.
Said Motlanthe: “As it has been widely reported. We are made to look like we are a stumbling block. If you remove the responsibility from us, we are happy that the league and government take responsibility. The league is saying they got the letter from the government.
“They have stated that they have submitted to the government which is not in line with communication protocol which was also established by the government.
“For the JLC (Joint Liason Committee) to meet, it was after the minister had met with the chairman of the league (Irvin Khoza) saying football must develop a one voice policy. The JLC was very successful. We succeeded in getting the communication right up until the government started communicating with us in a different way.
“The president (of Safa, Danny Jordaan) only became aware of the letter when he met with the chairman. When it was asked to say the resolution of our meeting was that the federation must be the one communicating and then another letter came from the minister. I think the source of confusion are those two letters,” Motlanthe said.
As the bickering continues, teams are working on the resumption of football. They have also done they first phase of testing for the coronavirus.
Motlanthe added: “The letters of the 5th (of June) and that of the 28th (June) have created a huge confusion. They have derailed the discussions that were taking place. There were meetings which were held at the DG level with me and the CEO of the league (Mato Madlala). That’s how communication was handled up until those two letters.
“When DG wrote to CSA, he wrote to CSA not the franchise. That’s how the government has contributed to this confusion,” Motlanthe said.