Safa to institute civil action for defamation of character against Hawks following raid

The South African Football Association (Safa) said will institute civil action for defamation of character after its President Danny Jordaan was accused of fraud and theft amounting to R1.3m.

The Safa head offices were raided by the Hawks on Friday in connection with allegations of fraud and theft amounting to R1.3m linked to Safa President Danny Jordaan.

The Hawks announced that they had seized a laptop, external hard drives, a USB and other documents during their raid.

The Hawks’ statement was blatant in naming and accusing the Safa President of using the organisation’s resources for personal gain, the football association will institute civil action for defamation of character.

“We contend that this is unethical and unlawful as the police never mentioned anyone’s name in matters that are under investigation,” said a statement from Safa, released on Friday.

“We want to set it out from the onset that we believe the search was unlawful, malicious and not conducted in terms of the directives of a warrant given to us,” read the statement shared by the association on their website.

The football association described the Hawks’ raid of their headquarters in Nasrec, Johannesburg as “unlawful and malicious.”

According to the Hawks, the allegations are that between 2014 and 2018, the Safa president allegedly hired a private security company for his personal protection, a public relations company without authorisation from the Safa board.

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‘A shame to our law enforcement agencies’

The association said the raid by the Hawks was a “shame to law enforcement agencies.”

“We were not furnished with all the documents prescribed by law. The documents that were furnished by the Hawks during the shameful raid were incomplete and unlawful. We contend that it was done deliberately and intentionally in order to action this malicious action,” averred the statement released on Friday.

The football association said it has instructed its attorneys to bring an urgent application to review and set aside the search and seizure.

“We have further instructed our attorneys to bring a formal complaint to the oversight arbitrator of the Hawks regarding the action of all involved members.”

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Broos names Bafana preliminary squad

Meanwhile, Bafana Bafana coach Hugo Broos will reunite with his team since beating DR Congo 6-5 on penalties in the Africa Cup of Nations third-place play-off to win bronze at the continental tournament in Côte d’Ivoire last month.

The Belgian coach named a 32-member preliminary squad for the FIFA Series international friendlies pilot project in Algeria later this month.

The FIFA event will run from 18 to 26 March 2024.

Bafana Bafana will play the first match against Andorra at the 19 May 1956 Stadium in Annaba, Algeria, on Thursday, 21 March 2024.

The national team then face the hosts at the Nelson Mandela Stadium in Algiers on Tuesday, 26 March 2024 before returning home on the following day.

The preliminary squad includes players who weren’t part of the team at the Afcon.

The likes of Supersport’s Grant Margeman and Orlando Pirates’ Patrick Maswanganyi and Innocent Maela. The Bafana Bafana coach will announce his final squad for the event in the coming days.

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