May 29 – The rollercoaster that has been Danny Jordaan’s life in football was given another five-year ride over the weekend as he was elected unopposed as South African Football Association (SAFA) president, taking him through to 2022.
Jordaan, once seemingly the voice of reason and good governance in African football and leader of the organisation of the 2010 World Cup in the country, has since seen his reputation plummet amid sexual assault allegations dating back 25 years, and the mystery $10 million sent to FIFA that has been a focus of the US Department of Justice investigations.
The SAFA election was also mired in controversy with a court motion filed last week by Chief Mwelo Nonkonyana to suspend the elections. Nonkonyana, a former SAFA vice president, said at the time: “As one of the leaders for change in South African football, I have taken a step to launch an urgent application in the South Gauteng High court today, pending the finalisation of my dispute at the same court and also in the light that we don’t have auditors and we don’t have an independent electoral commission.”
Nonkonyana, and Jordaan’s rival candidate Ace Ngcobo, claimed the process was flawed. “The entire process has been riddled with gross irregularities and manipulation by current Safa president Dr Danny Jordaan and his lackeys. Hence I want this entire process to start from the beginning, so we can all be part and parcel of electing a credible leadership that can take South African football to new and greater heights,” said Nonkonyana.
The vote had been brought forward. Ngcobo eventually pulled out leaving Jordaan to be elected with 95% of the vote.
First to congratulate Jordaan was African Football Confederation (AFC) president Ahmad Ahmad. In his victory address, Jordaan held his phone to the microphone so the whole SAFA congress could hear.
While Jordaan and his administration successfully brushed aside the attempts to question due process in the election proceedings, brushing aside the lurking questions surrounding his alleged sexual assaults will not be so easy.
It seems though there is no issue for South Africa’s women footballers who expressed their support for Jordaan.
“I hope that things will settle down in South African football (and we can now), focus on its future,” Jordaan said.
“The period from 2018 to 2022 is going to be crucial. We want to look at how we can strengthen women’s football in the country. We have 810 women serving football at grassroots level. That is a fundamental shift in the role of women in football.”
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