Zungu accuses SAFA rivals of ‘dirty tricks’ before presidential election

Sandile Zungu has accused the South African Football Association (SAFA) of using “dirty tricks” to influence the organisation’s presidential election, which will be decided at Saturday’s elective congress.

The AmaZulu FC chairman says regions supporting his campaign, as well as football legends aligned with his bid, have been unfairly prevented from taking part in the vote.

Delegates representing SAFA’s 52 electoral regions will cast their ballots in a secret vote on 12 September. The contest will be a direct battle between incumbent Dr Danny Jordaan and Zungu after both candidates passed the Governance Committee’s eligibility and integrity checks.

Zungu’s camp has also raised concerns about possible electoral fraud and alleged that voting delegates were offered sudden financial inducements over the weekend. Despite those concerns, the businessman said legal teams had been consulted and that his faction remained confident of winning.

Speaking at a media briefing at the Maslow Hotel in Sandton, Zungu criticised the handling of the election and said his campaign was angry about what had happened to several regions.

“We are obviously putting on a very brave face. We are seething with anger in terms of what is being done to regions,” he said.

Zungu claimed that football legends had been excluded from the forthcoming election without justification.

“Our legends here have been disqualified in the forthcoming elections, and we believe unjustly,” he said.

He further alleged that regions attempting to force a change in leadership had been punished after those efforts failed.

“We believe some regions who are clearly forcefully pushing for change there was an attempt to change leadership, which did not succeed. As punishment for them, they are being disqualified from participating in the forthcoming elections,” Zungu said.

SAFA has not publicly responded to Zungu’s allegations. The organisation did issue a statement addressing separate claims concerning bonuses reportedly owed to Bafana Bafana players from the FIFA World Cup.

Jordaan has been SAFA president since 2013, when he succeeded Kirsten Nematandani. A victory would give him a fourth successive term and extend his tenure to 13 years, although he continues to face ongoing court cases.

The election represents Zungu’s strongest corporate challenge yet to Jordaan’s leadership.

Zungu’s plans for SAFA

Zungu has promised a wide-ranging administrative overhaul if he wins the presidency.

His manifesto includes plans to modernise SAFA’s systems, introduce sound financial management and rebuild grassroots football. He also wants to guide both Bafana Bafana and Banyana Banyana towards becoming the first African national teams to win their respective FIFA World Cups.