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When members of the Safa Council meet on March 29 in Durban, they will be faced with a similar question to that posed by Prince Hamlet in the soliloquy he utters as part of the “nunnery scene” in William Shakespeare’s play, Hamlet. The question goes: To be or not to be?
While Safa’s situation may differ from that of the Prince of Denmark in the five-act tragedy, published in 1603, the association’s conundrum also carries consequences.
This emerged at a press conference called by Safa on Thursday where it was revealed that, out of the R450 million used to set up the 2010 Fifa World Cup Legacy Trust – and the R149 million interest generated – there is only R150 million left in the kitty.
The trust was formed with “a clear mandate: to provide funding for the ongoing development of football in South Africa to ensure that the World Cup leaves a lasting legacy for the sport in the country”.
Since then, it has disbursed a total of R449 million, including an amount of R96 million allocated at the board’s last meeting on March 9.
The biggest beneficiaries of the latest tranche of disbursement this time around are the national junior teams; the National Technical Centre, which Safa is developing at Fun Valley in Olifantsvlei, south of Johannesburg; and the National Women’s League, which is scheduled to start on August 9.
The three entities were awarded R19 million, R17 million and R10 million respectively.
However, Safa president Danny Jordaan revealed to City Press on the sidelines of Thursday’s gathering that there is a conundrum.
“The R150 million remaining in the account will not be enough to see Safa through to 2022, as per the projects outlined in our Vision 2022 strategy to rebuild the association,” he said.
“The board deliberated on whether the trust should continue or be shut down. Remember, this was joint venture run on a 50/50 basis between Fifa and Safa.
“The feeling at Fifa is that the remaining funds must be disbursed and the trust should be shut down.”
Jordaan said one of the reasons Fifa felt that way was because the global football governing body had to fly its representatives from Zurich every time a board meeting was held in Johannesburg.
“The lifespan of the trust was supposed to end at the conclusion of the 2014 World Cup in Brazil.”
Jordaan said that the Safa Council will have to make the final decision.
“The biggest challenge, if we decide to continue, will be how to find new revenue avenues, given the tough economic situation in the country,” he said.
Based on a presentation by the fund’s general manager, Joe Carrim, it appears that the most successful or productive of all the recipients have been the KwaZulu-Natal Academy, based at Durban’s Hoy Park and allocated R5 million; the women’s academy at the High Performance Centre (HPC), based at Pretoria University and awarded R3.3 million; and the junior teams.
South Africa’s junior teams have qualified for the 2015 Under-17 World Cup and the 2017 and 2019 Under-20 World Cups. Also, South Africa was the only African country to have both male and female Under-23 teams at the Rio Olympic Games in 2016.
To date, the KwaZulu-Natal Academy has produced 16 players who are already plying their trade in Europe, while the HPC has churned out a number of players who have gone on to play for various national women’s teams, including Banyana Banyana.
The centre has also assisted some athletes with their education, while others are now studying and playing football at certain US universities.
Besides the football structures, the trust has also funded a number of nongovernmental organisations that “use football to create awareness about health issues affecting people in Africa, particularly HIV/Aids”.
“Another major focus area of the fund lies in developing the entrepreneurial skills of women and girls,” said Carrim.
. Meanwhile, Jordaan said the Banyana Banyana farewell dinner would be held on March 29 in Durban before the team depart for the 2019 Fifa Women’s World Cup in France.
