Danny’s Morocco decision jumped the gun
Sy Lerman
It’s not been a great week for Danny Jordaan’s credibility, with PSL chairman Irvin Khoza first asserting that the Safa president habitually “attacks his adversaries publicly – and then apologises privately”.
And following on this caustic comment, Safa yesterday released a statement to the effect that no decision had yet been taken regarding whether to support Morocco or the three-nation American bid regarding the hosting of the 2026 World Cup.
It makes sense that Safa’s NEC will shortly take a decision on who to support when Fifa decide on 2026 during next month’s World Cup in Russia.
The only problem here is that Jordaan (right), who is generally considered to have omnipotent control over the activities of Safa, had already declared two weeks back that South Africa would support Morocco – adding the highly questionable claim that South Africa had staged the best-ever World Cup in 2010.
And Jordaan is not alone in clouding the issue of who will host the World Cup when the event is due to be staged with the number of nations swelling from the current 32 to 48.
With a strong financial clout and a maze of top-class facilities already available, the combined bid from the United States, Canada and Mexico was widely considered the odds-on favourite to receive Fifa’s blessing for 2026.
But then with a typical lack of insight and discretion. garrulous United States president Donald Trump effectively threatened the Fifa nations who will decide on the World Cup hosting that if they did not support the Amaricas – “in the way we support them” – there could be wider repercussions.
This is in direct conflict with a Fifa ruling that political considerations should play no part in the decisions of world soccer’s controlling body - and there could be retribution.
And even if Fifa does not take any action, Fifa countries might not take kindly to the not-soveiled threat from the United States president.
As for South Africa, one can only wonder if the NEC will in the long-term cross swords with the Safa president in deciding who to support with regard to 2026.