There were fouls and off-the-ball incidents aplenty, and this wasn’t on the field of play but at the commission investigating administration irregularities
SOCCER: Andrew Muchineripi
IT had to happen at some point. With so many commissions doing the rounds in the new South Africa at the moment, it was only a matter of time before the soccer world had its own.
The Pickard Commission into irregularities in soccer administration has been around for the past few months, but things are only starting to hot up now, as the main players start to flex their muscles. Judging by the way matters are developing at the moment it is clear that the gloves are off as South Africa’s soccer administrators battle for supremecy, and already mud is starting to fly.
The findings of the commission, which was instituted by Minister of Sport and Recreation Steve Tshwete, are to be presented to President Nelson Mandela, and it is sure to change the face of soccer in this country.
On the one side there is the South African Football Association (Safa) led by its executive president Solomon “Stix” Morewa, and supported by his childhood friend, Kaizer Chiefs boss Kaizer Motaung. A man never keen to shy away from publicity, Morewa has been out of the public eye for longer than he would like – since the country won the Nations Cup in February.
On the other side of the “struggle” is the National Soccer League (NSL) from whom Morewa is receiving opposition in a more collective form, with Jomo Sono, managing director of Jomo Cosmos, and Irvin Khoza, head of Orlando Pirates, at the helm. They are backed by, among others, Veli Mahlangu, Raymond Hack and Sundowns “Iron Lady” Nastasia Tschiclas.
The amazing twist in the story is that the two organisations share offices at the FNB Stadium, home of South African soccer, and the officials at loggerheads basically have to pass each other on a daily basis.
In soccer circles over the years it has been common knowledge that a “cold war” exists between certain officials, but it has always been a matter to which everybody, including the media, has been quite conveniently turning a blind eye.
In fact, it has become part of the game in a country where more is seen and heard of the exploits of the officials running the game than the people who actually make the sport, the players.
But at the current centre of the storm is Safa’s marketing wing, Awesome Sport International (ASI), to which Morewa’s organisation has been accused of selling its biggest asset – football.
ASI’s managing director Brian Mahon has yet to appear before the commission and has for some reason not been forthcoming despite numerous appeals by commission chairman Judge Benjamin “Bobby” Pickard.
So far, evidence has mainly been heard on the misuse of the Safa trust fund, which was supposed to benefit players but has, as Pickard put it, “been benefiting the employees of Safa and their families”.
Among those who received money from the trust fund are Kaizer Chiefs football club, which received R10 000, Morewa himself, who was awarded a R3 000 bursary to, as Safa’s vice-president Molefi Olifant put it, “do a diploma”.
A journalist also received R1 500 from the fund, something which interested Pickard who said that the reason he was so keen to learn more about this particular matter was that he had heard allegations of journalists “being bought” to ensure favourable publicity for certain soccer officials.
The hearings resumed again on Thursday after a break of a week.