13 April 2024 – The South African Football Association (SAFA) is happy with the outcome of the 32nd Ordinary Congress held at the Birchwood Hotel & Conference Centre in Johannesburg on Saturday.
Delegates from around the country descended on the venue in the east of Johannesburg to attend an event that was also graced by representatives from, among others, FIFA, SASCOC, COSAFA, and the Special Member, the National Soccer League (NSL).
About 60 women were part of the delegates from different regions and represented the structures of football, some of them presidents and some vice presidents.
“We are very happy with the progress that SAFA has made. The structure of South African football is in place,” SAFA President Dr Danny Jordaan said.
The Congress also discussed the question of coaching and referee education. SAFA recently launched CAF Licenses for coaches in the National Soccer League. “In our regions we have offered C and D Licenses to coaches. Many of our former players have become coaches through SAFA structures and some of them have even entered the A License. As you have recently seen, many of our coaches, including Gavin Hunt, and many others were there at the CAF A License courses.”
Turning to financial matters, the SAFA President said the Association had an unqualified audited financial statement for the financial year under review.
“SAFA CFO Gronie Hluyo and the chairman of the finance committee, Mxolisi Sibam, submitted the report and it was accepted by the Congress. This is the 32nd Congress of SAFA and for 32 years SAFA has every year delivered audited financial statements to each Congress every year.
“We have not skipped one year where we didn’t have an audited financial statement, and unqualified. So that is just our record on finances. So, there are no issues, no problems.”
The South African U17 men’s team have been invited to Santiago de Cali, Colombia, to play two international friendly matches as they continue with preparations for the upcoming COSAFA U-17 Championships and the 2025 AFCON qualifiers. Amajimbos reported for camp on 10 April 2024 and they are expected to depart for Colombia in the coming days.
Dr Jordaan explained why this is such an important step in their development.
“Why is it important that we focus on junior football, on the U17 and U20? This is because FIFA took a decision that soon they will have U17 and U20 World Cups every year. Every year there will be a World Cup in the U17 and U20s.
“In the past we have argued that it does not make sense to have the U17 and U20 World Cups every second year because when you play U17 this year and not next year, then in the following year you skip a whole generation of players. We see the effect of that in the progression of players into the senior teams of Bafana Bafana and Banyana Banyana.
“So, on both sides, men and women, we are going to focus on strengthening, consolidating and driving the building of competitive U17 and U20 teams.”
Dr Jordaan also revealed that SAFA has engaged the Northern Cape about building a world-class stadium in the province that complies with international standards. Northern Cape did not host any FIFA World Cup matches in 2010.
“International matches cannot be hosted in the province unless this issue is addressed. We will have further meetings with the government to emphasize that it is important that we have a FIFA-compliant and CAF-compliant stadium to host international matches.”