Sports ministry’s letters creating confusion between Safa and PSL – Motlanthe
SA Football Association (Safa) acting CEO Tebogo Motlanthe believes the two letters sent by the sports ministry to Safa and the Premier Soccer League (PSL) have contributed to the conflict between the two parties.
Sports Minister Nathi Mthethwa with Danny Jordaan, and Irvin Khoza
The sports ministry is said to have sent a letter to the PSL on 28 June which approved their plans to return to play.
The ministry then sent a letter to Safa on 5 July stating that the association will be liable for anything that will happen if the local season resume.
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“We are at a stage where we say, we either get that information before the 1st (of August) and we okay it and write the report. If we don’t get that information, I’ll put a second option to the minister (Nathi Mthethwa) to say, take that responsibility away from us and exonerate us from any liabilities which may emanate from people not following what we’ve agreed on at the JLC protocol,” said Motlanthe during an online press conference with the SA Football Journalists Association.
“As it has been widely reported. We are made to look like we are a stumbling block. If you remove the responsibility from us, we are happy that the league and government take responsibility. The league is saying they got the letter from the government.
“They have stated that they have submitted to the government which is not in line with communication protocol which was also established by the government.”
“The JLC was very successful. We succeeded in getting the communication and we knew that the communication was fine up until the government started communicating with us (Safa and the PSL) in a different way.
“You have a letter which the president (Jordaan) only became aware of when he met with the chairman (Khoza). When it was asked to say the resolution of our meeting was that the federation must be the one communicating and then another letter came from the minister. I think the source of confusion are those two letters f the 28th and of the 5th,” added Motlanthe.
“I think they have created huge confusion‚ and they have derailed the discussions that were taking place.”
Meanwhile, the PSL Board of Governors meeting, which was scheduled to take place on Friday, was cancelled following the death of PSL chairman Irvin Khoza’s second wife Matina Elsie Khoza.
The meeting is now set to take place on Monday, according to reports.
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