SOWETAN | Jordaan, Safa must play ball

The latest revelations regarding Safa’s attempt to have the raid by the Hawks at its headquarters declared illegal, once again show that the football governing body is a troubled organisation.

We reported yesterday that light has finally been shone on a company hired by Safa to supposedly clean-up Danny Jordaan’s image, with details explaining what lengths it went to put the Safa president in good light amid a raft of serious allegations, which included rape and corruption accusations.

While an affidavit filed by Safa on April 4 attached an annexure stating what role Grit Communications played in the period 2017 to 2019, during which time it was paid R1,3m, Safa somehow saw fit to contradict the PR company in the same affidavit, denying Grit had been hired specifically to spruce-up Jordaan’s image.

We are not surprised to see Safa do this because there have been similar contradictions emanating from Safa House. Just last month, the association wrote a letter to its former vice-president Ria Ledwaba telling her she was banned from all football, only to write another one a week later “withdrawing” the said ban.

Now Safa is telling us and the courts “at no point did Safa procure the services of Grit Communications for the benefit of an individual”.

What’s the real story here? Did Grit invent the claims that it “assisted Safa to soften the blows of several crises”, and that it “focused on Jordaan’s relations with the media as well as position him to be the centre of (Safa’s) revival”, as stated in the annexure attached by Safa?

Safa's opposition to the raid carried out by the Hawks seems flimsy, but even if there was a valid legal case, what is there to hide?

The raid on March 8, the investigation unit told us, had much to do with hiring of Grit and a security company for Jordaan’s personal protection. Safa must therefore allow the investigation to exonerate it and its president.

But instead, Safa has rushed to lay claims that the raid was illegal and invalid.

And as it fights this legal battle, we should ask the question: who is footing the bill for what seems a frivolous case? Is Jordaan paying all this from his pocket or are Safa’s bare resources being squandered on matters that have nothing to do with its football mandate yet again?