SAFA Is In Full Operation
22 January 2010
 The South African Football Association (SAFA) is fully operational; projects and programs of the Association are going ahead as planned; including World Cup preparations for the Senior Men’s National Team (Bafana Bafana). The team is currently in Durban for a first of the three camps, with two other camps in Brazil and Germany very much on track in March and April as planned.
The National under 20 Women’s team (Basetsana) is currently in Zambia to play the host country in the 2010 World Cup qualifier (second leg), the National under 17 team (Amajimbos) will soon be in camp preparing for the African Youth Championships qualifiers; and interviews are currently underway to fill vacant posts in the junior national teams, this are just few of the many projects that the Association is working on.
SAFA CEO Leslie Sedibe has assured all stakeholders that the Association will continue to deliver on its constitutional mandate: to promote, advance, administer, co-ordinate and generally encourage the game of football in South Africa in accordance with the principles as laid down in the statutes of FIFA. He says SAFA is part of the global village, and it is bound to be affected by events around the world; he says the financial setback does not constitute a crisis within the Association, “SAFA like most companies in South Africa was hit by the consequences of the global economic crisis which saw delays in payments of monies due to SAFA. In order to alleviate this challenge we have called in suitably qualified experts to improve our debtors’ management and accelerate the payment of accounts due to SAFA; this exercise forms part of our turnaround strategy that will ensure that SAFA remains a going concern; added Sedibe.
Earlier today SAFA President Kirsten Nematandani met a delegation from the British High Commission to discuss a World Cup legacy project around grassroots football development, the program is aimed at mobilising South African Football Clubs to integrate their respective communities in their operations, the model is a success in the United Kingdom championed Charlton Football Club, and it encourages young people to combat crime through involvement in sport. Nematandani says South Africa will benefit a lot from the initiative, considering that there are Community Policing Forums countrywide, he says the Association will approach Police Commissioner Bheki Cele for support; “ We are excited with this project, and we are glad that the British Commission is leveraging on the power of Football to make the project a success, football is a social movement, and SAFA will use the power of its 52 regions and 380 Local Football Associations to roll out the Community Coaching Program, once all the protocols around the partnership are concluded”; said Nematandani.
The United Kingdom Metropolitan Police Service Inspector Richard Hynes has congratulated the SAFA Leadership for their plans to revive grassroots football in communities and schools; “the program is largely driven by young people, and they play a very important role in community safety using sport as a vehicle, SAFA’s involvement will amplify the good work that has already been done through the 3 PSL teams, Bidvest Wits, Ajax Cape Town and Amazulu; said Inspector Hynes.
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