A chronology of the long and fragmented history of South African football.
1892: Birth of Football in South Africa, Natal Football Association and later Football Association of South Africa (Fasa). Fasa caters for white footballers only.
1951: Coloured, Black and Indian federations unite to form South African Soccer Federation (Sasf).
1952-1964: Fasa becomes member of Fifa. The South African Bantu Football (Sabfa) becomes part of Fasa.
1964-1974: Fasa is suspended by Fifa for racial discrimination in sport.
1962: National Professional Soccer League (NPSL) formed as an affiliate of the South African Bantu Football Association (Sabfa). NPSL caters for black footballers.
1974: Fasa expelled by Fifa. Sabfa renamed South National Football Association (Sanfa).
1977: Multinational sport policy introduced in South Africa. The all-white National Football League is swallowed by the NPSL to establish one professional soccer league.
1985: The NPSL splits, leading to the formation of the National Soccer League (NSL). Kaizer Motaung, Kaizer Chiefs boss, and Irvin Khoza, Pirate boss, pull out of the NPSL after long battles with the former chair and president of the NPSL, George Thabe. Other clubs follow Chiefs and Pirates to form the NSL.
1986: Former NSL chief executive officer Cyril Kobus is arrested on several counts of fraud.
1991: Four racially segregated soccer associations – the Football Association of South Africa, the South African Soccer Association, the South African Soccer Federation and the South African National Football Association – merge to form the South African Football Association (Safa). Mluleki George is appointed president of Safa.
1991: South Africa is readmitted by Fifa. Solomon “Stix” Morewa appointed executive president of Safa.
1992: Former NSL public relations officer Abdul Bhamjee defrauds the NSL of R7- million.
1996: South Africa hosts and wins the African Nations Cup. Morewa is hit by allegation of corruption. Bhamjee is released on parole.
1996: Then minister of sport and recreation Steve Tshwete appoints Judge Benjamin Pickard to investigate corruption in the NSL and Safa.
1997: The Pickard commission singles out two high-profile soccer figures and a mystery man for condemnation in his report:
l Stix Morewa, the former president of Safa, is described as “no longer a fit and proper person to be at the helm of the football industry”.
l Kaizer Motaung, boss of Kaizer Chiefs, together with Morewa is alleged to have led a troika of friends in using soccer for personal gain.
l Brian Mahon, head of Awesome Sports International (ASI), a shadowy, Irish- registered company.
The judge finds that Morewa took a R500 000 loan from ASI during negotiations over a marketing contract between Safa and ASI.
1997: The Premier Soccer League is launched.
1997: African National Congress MP Danny Jordaan is appointed Safa chief executive. Molefi Oliphant, who was vice-president, is appointed acting president after the resignation of Morewa. Oliphant is later appointed third president of Safa.
1997: South Africa qualifies for the World Cup finals in France in 1998. Morewa resigns as executive president. He receives a golden handshake of more than R200 000.
1998: Allegations of match fixing, bribery and corruption hit the PSL and the Motimele commission of inquiry is launched to investigate.
1998: The national side, Bafana Bafana, play in the World Cup finals in France. They are eliminated in the first round after losing to the hosts and drawing with Saudi Arabia and Denmark.
1999: An MTN First Division league referee, Mlungisi Soko, spills the beans on match fixing. Soko accuses club officials of offering money to “fix” games.
1999: The South African revenue services takes on several PSL clubs for tax evasion.
1999: Joe Ndhlela, PSL chief executive officer, is suspended for bringing the league into disrepute because of charges relating to his former employer, Transnet.
1999: A Pirates player is registered for the PSL season two days after he died in a car accident in Zimbabwe.
2000:South Africa fails to win the African Cup of Nations in Ghana and Nigeria, and also fails to persuade Morocco to drop its bid for the 2006 World Cup in favour of a united African bid.
2000: A delegation of Fifa officials is set to visit South Africa to assess facilities for hosting the 2006 World Cup. Rival bidders England (the others are Germany and Brazil) highlight South Africa’s crime rate as the main reason the country should not be awarded the event, but corruption and scandal are more likely to influence the team from Geneva.
Fifa president Sepp Blatter has recently backed down on his insistence that it is “Africa’s turn” to host the spectacle.