Safa says sorry to Mubarak over slur

IN A DRAMATIC turn of events, Safa has apologised to Sascoc board member Mahomed Mubarak for the vitriol spewed at him by soccer administrator Mzwandile Maforvane.

At the same time, South African Sports Confederation and Olympic Committee president Gideon Sam instructed the South African Football Association to cooperate with the Mubarak-led investigation.

Mubarak has been appointed by Sascoc to lead a wide-scale investigation into the general administration of Safa and Bafana Bafana's failure to qualify for the 2012 Afcon finals. Mubarak's team will also probe the 2013 Afcon finals preparations and the finances of the 2010 Fifa World Cup legacy project.

Safa strongly objects to the inclusion of Mubarak on the investigating team, urging their former deputy president to recuse himself.

In Sam's letter to Safa he reminded the association that Sascoc "has jurisdiction over all its members", and that they are "required to comply with the directives issued to them".

"I would ask you to respect such decision and provide the relevant committee who were duly appointed by the board in terms of Article 9.3.2 of Sascoc Articles of Association (with the) necessary information," he continued.

Back to Maforvane, Safa has written a letter to Mubarak saying the allegations made by the Free State administrator did not represent the views of the soccer federation. Maforvane accused Mubarak of being a failure, saying Bafana did not progress when he was still with the federation.

Safa chief executive officer Robin Petersen said in the letter: "We do not associate ourselves with the assertions that Mr Maforvane has made about Mr Mahomed."