The South African Football Association (SAFA) has confirmed that one of the candidates in its May Elective Congress survived an assassination attempt. Danny Jordaan (pictured) was reappointed as SAFA President at the SAFA Congress on 26 May after the only other candidate, former referee and General Manager of South Africa’s Premier Soccer League (PSL), ‘Ace’ Ncobo, withdrew.

“Whenever we go for the Elective Congress, people vying for positions use unpalatable language to denigrate their opponents and in most cases use false and derogatory language”, said SAFA Legal Officer, Adv Tebogo Motlanthe, in a statement defending FIFA’s decision to include a Defamation Clause in its Code of Ethics. “This negative and defamatory campaign saw one of the candidates surviving an assassination in the last election; fortunately, the police stepped in on time and stopped what could have been a terrible tragedy.”

SAFA and Ncobo have yet to respond to questions from The Sports Integrity Initiative asking for details about the assassination attempt. SAFA was forced to postpone its Elective Congress, initially scheduled for March, after the legality of the elections was challenged. It was alleged that the date for the elections was brought forward from September, and other potential candidates for the position of FIFA President were prevented from standing.

SAFA’s reasons for supporting FIFA’s Defamation Clause are outlined in a 29 March circular (PDF below) issued during arguments about the Elective Congress, which accused rouge groups of attempting to ‘destabilise’ SAFA. It also removed its Electoral Code from its internet site and amended it, after Ncobo argued that SAFA’s planned March Electoral Congress did not comply with the Code. 

In case we forgot. No Eectoral Committe. No Congress. It can't be appointed nor nominated. It must be ELECTED. 6 months prior. pic.twitter.com/3qKVeZ2U2P

— Ace Ncobo – Spot On (@AceNcobo) March 12, 2018

‘The ordinary general assembly at which the Committee is elected shall take place at least six months before the elective general assembly at which the executive body is elected’, reads Article 4(c) of the 2013 SAFA Electoral Code. ‘Election by the general assembly makes it possible to ensure greater transparency and impartiality and to avoid the possibility of a body of SAFA appointing or nominating the Electoral Committee because it is possible that the members of the body may later stand as candidates for elected posts’. This Article is a mirror of  Article 4(c) of the FIFA Electoral Code.

‘The Congress at which the Committee is elected shall take place at least six months before the elective Congress at which the executive body is elected’, reads Article 4(d) of the 2018 SAFA Electoral Code. ‘It is important to note that the deadline of a minimum of six months before the elective Congress is not inordinately long, so that the Members of the Association are already in a position to know whether or not they are going to submit their candidature for an elected post’. The 2018 Electoral Code was ratified on 28 April, and states that it was ‘Amended by the SAFA Council on 28 March 2018’.