17 March 2020 – A SAFA delegation led by its President Dr Danny Jordaan will be meeting with the Minister of Sports, Arts, Culture and Recreation, Nathi Mthethwa today, (Tuesday, 17 March 2020) at his offices in Pretoria to give a report and update on the impact of the Coronavirus on football.

At the international level, the delegation will explain measures taken by FIFA, UEFA and Leagues in Europe including the English Premier League, LaLiga in Spain and Serie A in Italy as well as the UEFA Champions League.

At the continental level, the SAFA delegation will explain to Minister Mthethwa measures taken by the continental body, CAF in relation to Senior Men’s AFCON qualifiers for Cameroon 2021 and the FIFA World Cup 2022 qualifiers in Qatar, the Women’s AWCON 2020 and 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup qualifiers, Tokyo Olympics in 2020, the FIFA World Cup u20 Women’s qualification as well as the u17 Women’s FIFA World Cup qualifiers.

SAFA further notes that CAF issued a statement on Monday (16 March 2020) evening postponing the CHAN tournament which was scheduled for Cameroon in April.

SAFA further noted the postponement of the WFS Africa which was a cooperation that included the KZN Provincial government, SAFA and Spanish LaLiga. The WFS Africa was supposed to take place this week in Durban’s ICC.

SAFA will further brief the Minister on the postponement of club football at all levels in the country. The Association will brief the Minister on the postponement of the FIFA Congress and other international football-related engagements.

The Association said attempts to play football in empty stadiums was not achieving the desired results after three players in Serie A tested positive in the process.

The positive testing of players and coaches in Europe is a particular concern for SAFA and these matters will be raised with the Minister.