17 November 2020 – A few months back FIFA confirmed that SAFA’s official stakeholder registration and competition system, MYSAFA, is in elite company internationally, ranking 15th globally and occupying the top spot in Africa in terms of player registrations.
When lockdown came and football was suspended in March 2020 however, focus shifted to club registration. The assignment of a unique FIFA ID to each of SAFA’s clubs is a required and essential step to ensure the proper functioning of the FIFA Clearing House, due to come online in 2021.
This past week, MYSAFA celebrated the two-thousandth FIFA club registration which is a welcome milestone and showcases the hard work that has been done by SAFA structures – even during lockdown.
The club in question, Little Guys FC, hail from the King Cetshwayo region under the Mfolozi LFA in KwaZulu-Natal. The team ply their trade in the SAB League. SAFA.net spoke to Mthokozisi Ncube, a member of the SAB League team who doubles as an enthusiastic administrator.
Ncube, who has a long history with the club having played for their junior teams, was extremely excited about the team being linked with the milestone.
“Firstly, we would like to congratulate MYSAFA and we view this as an important opportunity for our club,” said Ncube. “We have talented players and passionate fans and for us to be the 2000th registered club and also linked to FIFA, is a great thing for not just us but South African football.”
Despite many challenges, the club is grateful for the support of the local municipality, assisting Little Guys FC with funding for kits and equipment. Ncube was also hopeful that the club would enjoy more financial benefits, simply by being registered on such a platform.
“We have dreams of one of our players climbing up the ranks to the PSL as well as overseas,” said Ncube. “We have the talent and merely need scouts to come though. With the club and all our players registered on MYSAFA, we can expect to be compensated for grooming these players.
“MYSAFA holds great potential for every single club in the country so thanks to SAFA as well as MYSAFA and let’s hope more clubs come on board,” concluded Ncube.
With direct flow of FIFA training rewards starting in 2021, and the addition of back-office tools for managing club memberships, clubs have the most to gain from using MYSAFA.
“In 2021 the FIFA Clearing House will begin paying our clubs training rewards directly, based on the club and player registration information in MYSAFA,” Acting SAFA CEO Tebogo Motlanthe explained. “FIFA’s new rules make it clear that only clubs registered in MYSAFA will be entitled to receive training rewards as from 1 January 2021.”
LFAs and clubs wishing to enrol are encouraged to contact support@mywww.safa.net and request the club registration worksheet or for any other assistance required.
Once the club is registered with FIFA, clubs receive a login to MYSAFA where they can download their certificate of good standing that includes their FIFA ID, as well as check registered members and – with the permission of their LFA – request transfers and register new players.
by Dhirshan Gobind