Safa clears the air on Nations Cup

THE South African Football Association (Safa) has cleared the air on reports of a ‘coup’ involving the 2013 Africa Cup of Nations chairmanship.Safa president Kirsten Nematandani announced yesterday he had vacated the post to his deputy, Mwelo Nonkonyana, who would act as interim chairman until a replacement was found before the end of the month.

“I think we have done well and the task we took last year October has now been completed,” said Nematandani.“We also need to emphasise that this is still interim until the board moves on with the structure.”He said he could not be a “referee and player” and refuted claims that he had been toppled from the Afcon local organising committee (LOC) chairman’s post while he was in London, England, last month.“As Safa president, I can’t report to myself,” Nematandani said.“First option was to have the LOC under Safa before it was decided to be independent.“Yes, I went to London, but it was after a board meeting where everything was agreed upon.”Sports Minister Fikile Mbalula last week said he would seek some clarity on the reported topple, and whether it was financially motivated when Safa and the LOC meet the government joint-task team.That meeting is set for Tuesday morning, where the tournament budget will be finalised along with the LOC board which will include government stakeholders.Nonkonyana said he would ensure on the success of the biannual showpiece while also refuting the reports.“I will do what needs to be done to ensure that Afcon is as successful as 2010 Fifa World Cup,” said Nonkonyana.“I want to emphasise that we are here to serve the game and are not in it for the money.“It is only up to the board themselves to decide if we are to get anything.”The LOC also clarified the much debated host cities bids that saw Cape Town excluded from the five that made the cut for next year’s continental showpiece.The committee had enlisted the help of an independent auditing firm to evaluate the eight cities which bid to host matches and the Western Cape was ranked sixth.eThekwini was first, followed by Port Elizabeth, Rustenburg, Nelspruit and Johannesburg, respectively.“It was not a blunder to leave Cape Town out,” LOC chief executive Mvuzo Mbebe said as he gave a detailed explanation of the bidding process.“It was what (other) cities proposed to us as their plans that we went on.Cape Town will host the African Nations Championships (CHAN) alongside Bloemfontein, Polokwane and Kimberley.“We (LOC and Cape Town) disagreed on matters, like with other cities, but we responded to them (during the screening process),” said Mbebe.“In fact, they are on record from a video conference, saying they were happy with how the bidding process worked.”Kimberley was the only city that had been pre-determined ahead of the two tournaments.“It would have been unfair to pre-select any other cities,” Mbebe said.“Kimberley was selected pre-hand for CHAN because they don’t often get events.“For instance, Polokwane could have made it ahead of PE, since they are closer to Mozambique should they qualify, and would get support there.”The proposal is to have at least four matches per city, which will be finalised after the competition draw is conducted on October 26, at a yet to be determined location. – Sapa