Nematandani bowled out

THE chickens do come home to roost and in the case of former SA Football Association boss Kirsten Nematandani they have come in full force – as a stinging rebuke for his denials of any culpability in a pre-2010 match-fixing scandal.

This week Fifa, the world controlling body’s Independent Ethics Committee banned Nematandani and two other officials – Zimbabwe’s Jonathan Musavengana and Banna Tchanile, former coach of the Togo national team – from all football-related activities for a lengthy period.

Nematandani, found guilty of having violated Fifa’s code of ethics relating to conduct, loyalty and disclosure, cooperation and reporting, was slapped with a five-year ban. The other two were suspended for life. All three were implicated in a match-fixing scandal prior to the World Cup hosted by South Africa.

Fifa investigated seven matches prior to the kick-off proper that year. All these matches were played while Nematandani was Safa president.

Football4U, a Singaporean company linked to convicted bookmaker Wilson Raj Perumal, was found to have fixed warm-up matches that involved Bafana Bafana.

The idea had apparently been to ensure referees favoured Bafana in the international matches to bolster the country’s standing ahead of the 2010 tournament.

As a result of Fifa’s in-depth probe a number of administrators were previously banned, including Safa chief executive Leslie Sedibe, a referees administrator Ace Kika, a former Eastern Cape administrator and three top referees – all for their roles in the cheating.

The former South African boss, seen at the time by many in the football fraternity as a “fine administrator”, however vehemently denied any wrongdoing. He claimed he would never take a bribe.

But he was found to have shrugged off a complaint about a bribe being offered to then head of referees Trevor Goddard.

For turning a blind eye to what was happening right under his nose, Nematandani has had to pay a heavy price.

There are still questions to be answered around allegations that millions of rands changed hands in order to bring the tournament to South Africa. Safa is sticking to its guns, stating that all these claims are “baseless” and denying it ever offered bribes to top Fifa executive members.

What this week’s ban tells us is that strides are being made to put the long-running saga tainting our football to rest. It is a positive development to see those who have brought shame to the sport finally getting their comeuppance.

Match-fixing is a scourge that is not only criminal but undermines the essence of sport.