We pray for unity at Safa

After weeks of haggling and finger-pointing, the SA Football Association will finally hold its elective congress tomorrow.

Or so we are told. Even as Safa’s media division asserted that the election would go ahead smoothly, it seems there may be unresolved matters that caused the first election to be cancelled in March.

Those matters included a dispute over auditors and the electoral commission, yet Safa, speaking to us this week, insisted everything was on track.

But the association’s nemesis Ace Ncobo was noncommittal when we contacted him. “The violations of the statutes and the electoral code have proceeded unabated,” he said.

Ncobo’s name made it to the list of nominees – he will challenge Danny Jordaan for Safa’s presidency. Ncobo has also raised reservations about whether world football governing body Fifa has given its approval for the election to go ahead.

We pray that Safa has complied with all these requirements, so as to allow for a clean election that doesn’t result in anarchy afterwards. We also hope tomorrow will not degenerate into a screaming match as factions jostle for positions.

Lastly, we hope the Safa election brings about positive change in our football. It has been downhill ever since the Safa election in 2009 promised a new dawn. Instead, little has happened. Bafana Bafana are watching the World Cup that kicks off in two weeks on TV like all of us, having failed dismally in qualification.

As much as we are well aware that it’s impossible for the Safa head honchos to get their priorities right, we hope the new leadership will put SA football first.