SAFA: We haven’t cleared Eymael
THE South African Football Association has responded in protest once again to the appointment of Luc Eymael at Chippa United.
After the Chilli Boys had to cancel their approach for the Belgian last year when he left Young Africans under controversial circumstances, Eymael is back at the club as a technical advisor.
The football governing body previously vowed to never allow Eymael to work in the country again following allegations that he made racist remarks while coaching in Tanzania.
Chippa United have indicated they are waiting for SAFA to approve Eymael’s re-appointment as Siyabulela Gwambi is elevated to the position of interim head coach.
SAFA’s communications director Dominic Chimhavi said they have now escalated the matter to the relevant authorities.
“What we have done, we’ve taken this matter to the SAFA Ethics Committee to make a determination because we take these racism allegations very seriously,” Chimhavi said.
“We have always insisted that in our sport there is no room for racism. What we heard from the Tanzanian Football Association and the clips which we received from the Tanzanian Football Federation are very serious allegations.
“And as a result for us to be also on the safe side we have referred this issue to our SAFA Ethics Committee, which will make a determination, and we have also escalated this issue to the FIFA Ethics Committee to come up with a legal determination.
“I mean there are issues whereby people are saying SAFA has cleared him... we haven’t cleared him. We were just saying, ‘As the Association we don’t bar anyone from coaching, we don’t issue work permits, but we issued our thorough reservations with regards to racism allegations.’
“And that’s why we have escalated the issue. Those are the bodies which are going to determine whether this man is in the good or this man is in the wrong.”