The South African Football Association (Safa) will not postpone its presidential election because its constitution doesn’t make provision for this, Safa chief executive officer Raymond Hack said on Wednesday.
”We won’t postpone it,” Hack said after Fifa general secretary Jerome Valcke suggested a postponement until after the 2010 World Cup for the sake of removing any potential disruptions.
Irvin Khoza is the 2010 World Cup local organising committee (LOC) chairperson and Danny Jordaan the organisation’s chief executive officer.
On September 27 they will contest the position that will be left vacant when Molefi Oliphant’s term ends.
Valcke said Fifa might have to assume full responsibility for the running of the event if preparations were disrupted in any way.
”We said we’d like to see it [the elections] postponed until after 2010, but Safa refused, so we’ll be monitoring them very carefully to make sure that they do not impact on the World Cup,” Valcke told a media briefing in Johannesburg.
Safa chief executive officer Raymond Hack said it was not merely up to Safa’s administration to make such a decision.
”Only the membership can do it,” he said, referring the Sapa reporter to the association’s constitution.
This document sets out specific details such as how much notice members should be given of an annual general meeting, by which date an item can be placed on an agenda, and what to do if there is no quorum at the meeting.
It is silent on the postponement of an election and would require a change to the constitution by members for direction on this to be made clear.
Hack said the nomination process had been under way for some time and it was not just for the post of president, but included vice-presidents and national executive members.
He understood Fifa’s concerns, even though they had not been directly communicated to Safa, but were only seen in the media.
But he said the fact that the people involved in contesting the president’s position were also involved with the World Cup was incidental.
”They are both responsible people, they are not going to do anything to jeopardise the World Cup.”
However, the Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP) agreed with Fifa that it should be moved to remove any risks to the soccer spectacle.
”We believe that the fierce contest between Danny Jordaan and Irvin Khoza for the soul of Safa and its presidency will put our World Cup preparations at risk,” said Bonginkosi Dhlamini, the IFP’s spokesperson adding that cohesion within soccer structures was imperative. — Sapa