Top dogs get the boot from North End bosses
Seagulls cry foul over their ‘termination’
JUST days after winning the SafaBuffalo City Mercedes-Benz Football Festival, Seagulls FC now find themselves out in the cold. Their membership of East London Central LFA has been “terminated”.
Seagulls hammered the University of Fort Hare 3-0 last weekend in the final of the festival.
According to a letter sent to all East London Central Premier League clubs, the termination of membership was to help ensure that Seagulls are not affected as playing with or against the clubs suspended by Safa-BC may land them in trouble.
Part of the statement sent out by EL Central chairman Gavin van Rooyen read: “In view of the fact that all the clubs currently playing in our structure have been suspended by SafaBuffalo City and bearing in mind that our status is pending the dispute we have declared with our mother body through Safa national, we, the EL Central executive in line with Article 34.13 of our constitution have passed a motion to dismiss your membership with EL Central LFA with immediate effect.”
Seagulls president Enrico Williams said they had reported the matter to Safa-BC as they believed they were being victimised.
“We did nothing irregular and unconstitutional as far as we are concerned.
“All this is now a personal attack on Seagulls,” said Williams.
He said that Seagulls “did support our executive but only until Van Rooyen’s suspension was confirmed by Safa’s head of legal affairs in an article in the Daily Dispatch. From then on we have been following the directives of our mother body.”
Safa-BC confirmed to “have seen the letter” which secretary Vukile Mlanjana promised they will “only comment on after after we meet as the REC”.
Van Rooyen denied that the termination of Seagulls membership was personal, saying that Seagulls reneged from resolutions taken in a meeting on March 11.
According to minutes of the meeting, which the Dispatch has seen, “Seagulls FC clearly stated that mismanagement is taking place at Safa BC”.
Van Rooyen maintains that as a result of Seagulls’ betrayal of their stance, the EL Central LFA subsequently resolved to terminate their membership in a council meeting on April 18.
“EL Central LFA Article 2.16.17 states that membership can be terminated for infringing the resolutions of East London Central,” said Van Rooyen in a written reply to the Dispatch.
“We as the executive have applied Article 2.16.17 as Seagulls has infringed a resolution adopted in the Congress dated April 18.” Meanwhile, the wrangle between SafaBuffalo City and its affiliate, East London Central LFA, is playing itself out like a dramatic soap opera.
In the latest twist, Central LFA has compiled a 26page “dossier” with a blow-byblow account of the rift between them and the regional football leadership.
This is after the regional body suspended 16 clubs affiliated to EL Central.
“Suspension with immediate effect from all football activities of Riverside FC, Pride of India, Star of India, Brothers of Peace, Napoli, Pefferville FC, Atlantic Spurs, Buffalo City Soccer School FC, Conquerors FC, Swaraj FC, Young Lions, Parkside United, Leeds FC, EL United and EL Central Masters,” reads the suspension letter.
The dossier, titled “East London Central v Safa-Buffalo City 2013-2014”, was sent to the SA Football Association president Danny Jordaan and chief executive Dennis Mumble calling for for their immediate intervention.
According to Safa national spokesman Dominic Chimhavi, the football body’s HoD for membership, Andile Ndengezi, is attending to the matter.
Van Rooyen said it was their “last resort to save the sport that is on the brink of collapse in the Buffalo City region”.
They would now wait for national office to address their grievances.
The hard-hitting dossier highlights several “unconstitutional” issues that have been ongoing since the regional leadership’s election in November 2012.
Among other salient matters, Central accuse the Safa-Buffalo City executive of having “failed to host a single ordinary congress with their LFAs since 2012 as per constitutional requirements”.
The constitution stipulated that the region hold such a congress at least once every year.