Where is Dennis Mumble?

The SA Football Association (Safa) has rubbished reports that its chief executive, whose contract ends next month, could be stepping down.

Dennis Mumble has been missing in action for a while and was conspicuous by his absence at the Safa match officials’ Outsurance sponsorship launch three weeks ago.

Safa spokesperson Dominic Chimhavi said Mumble was in fact on leave and that he had been in contact with the federation’s vice-president, Gay Mokoena,
regarding his future.

“There are no merits in those reports. What I have gathered is that he has had a number of engagements with the acting president to map the way forward,” said Chimhavi in an emailed response to City Press on Friday.

“The [chief executive] is on leave and he took leave long before the Outsurance sponsorship
announcement,” he said, while also confirming that Safa’s general manager for football business, Russell Paul, had been holding down the fort as acting accounting officer.

Chimhavi, however, could not provide clarity when asked if Safa would advertise the position once Mumble’s deal expires at the end of next month, or if he would be allowed to apply for an extension.

Attempts to reach Mumble were unsuccessful as his phone constantly went straight to voicemail. He also had not responded to text messages at the time of going to print.

Chimhavi said he could not comment on information received by City Press that Mumble had taken leave to deal with personal issues because that would be a “personal matter”.

Safa is due to hold its annual general meeting (AGM) in November and, when Chimhavi was asked if Mumble’s future was likely to be on the agenda at that gathering, he said: “The agenda has not been finalised – we have not even decided on the exact date.”

The football governing body held a special AGM to elect new leadership, where incumbent president Danny Jordaan retained his seat without opposition at the elective conference in May.

There have been several reports that Safa’s finances are on shaky ground and it will be interesting to see what the annual financial report
reveals at the AGM. It reported a R23.1 million profit last time around.