Taking the high moral ground leaves Safa exposed

Only a reckless gambler with very little regard for his money would have bet on the South African Football Association (Safa) electing to fold and not challenge Fifa after the suits in Zurich took a decision that still leaves a bitter taste in the mouth.

Many of us fell off our chairs when the folks at Safa House announced on Tuesday that they would not challenge Fifa after the world governing body ordered Bafana Bafana to replay their 2018 World Cup qualifier against Senegal.

Bafana beat the Senegalese 2-1 in Polokwane in November 2016, but the qualifier came under scrutiny after the West Africans reported controversial referee Joseph Lamptey’s performance to Fifa.

The Ghanaian referee made several questionable decisions during the tense encounter at Peter Mokaba Stadium, including incorrectly awarding a penalty to the hosts.

Lamptey has a long list of misdemeanours that would make notorious Singaporean match-fixer Wilson Raj Perumal beam with pride and it came as no surprise when Fifa subsequently handed him a life-time ban for match manipulation.

The Ghanaian’s performance in the past 12 months alone was so poor that it seemed to be only a matter of time before the disgraced referee scored a goal himself in order to influence the outcome of a match in which he was officiating.

Bafana were docked the three points they won in that encounter against Senegal and they now only have a single point to show for their effort.

While acknowledging that Bafana were innocent bystanders and had nothing to do with Lamptey’s corrupt activities, Fifa still punished SA in one of the worst examples of collateral damage.

The nation’s soccer lovers were understandably incensed after Fifa said the game would be replayed in November.

Safa president Danny Jordaan argued on Tuesday that Safa did not want to benefit from Lamptey’s corruption and elected to take the moral high ground.

‘‘If this match was tampered with‚ do you as Bafana and Safa want those points?” Jordaan asked. “It was a moral and ethical question. On Monday that matter was dealt with substantially [in a Safa emergency committee meeting]. The outcome of the emergency meeting was quite clear: no‚ we do not want to be recipients if there is evidence that a match was manipulated.”

This is a complete shift from the shock and outrage that greeted Fifa’s announcement last week. Safa said at the time it would study the decision and then challenge it before the Fifa 2018 World Cup organising committee made a final decision on Thursday.

Once the Fifa organising committee ratifies the decision there can be no appeal process.

Chairman of Safa’s legal committee and executive member Norman Arendse said at the time Safa was never given an opportunity to give its side of the story.

“We have to file our objection to the organising committee because we suspect if we don’t they will be inclined to go with the Fifa ruling,” he said last week.

‘‘The Fifa organising committee will meet and possibly take a final decision on this matter on September 14.

“Since November, when this matter was taken to Fifa by Senegal, Safa has never been cited to give its side of the story. We strongly feel that the organising committee can’t take a final decision without us giving our input on a decision that directly affects us.”

So what on earth has changed since then?

Safa appears to have had strong grounds to challenge Fifa and has suddenly rolled over and played dead at the feet of the governing body? Why?

Think about it. Fifa ignored Lamptey’s long list of indiscretions and asked the tainted official to officiate in the 2016 match. Fifa also acknowledged that SA did nothing wrong and it was its corrupt official who brought the game into disrepute.

The bright sparks at Fifa want to make an example of the rotten apple in their ranks and if it means dragging innocent bystanders into their nonsense, then so be it.

And yet Safa is quite happy to accept punishment for a crime it did not commit? What in the world? Safa will have no one else to blame when Fifa’s bungling affects it again. Because, believe me, this will happen again.