South Africa Football Association (SAFA) appears to be confident of receiving a positive outcome from their FIFA complaint against referee Maguette Ndiaye despite the failure of the global soccer body to deliver a decision on November 23rd contrary to their their promise.
SAFA president Danny Jordaan , on Sunday, questioned why FIFA has failed to honor their promise of delivering a decision on November 28th regarding the protest SAFA filed against the Senegalese referee Ndiaye in relation to the 2022 FIFA World Cup qualifier played in Cape Coast ( Ghana 1 South Africa 0 ).
“Fifa issued a statement saying they would give us a decision on November 23. What is the date today? It is November 28 isn’t it,” Jordaan asked on Sunday.
“The question is why have they [Fifa] not even communicated with us? Why?”
According to Jordaan, FIFA has been stunned by the strength of their case against Ndiaye, accused of match manipulation and corruption.
“They must explain to people around the world that the matter is a lot more complicated than they originally thought and they need more time to consider their decision. Remaining silent for so many days without any form of communication is not the way to go here.
“The fact that they [haven’t announced a decision] means there are other issues at play here. We asked Fifa for a thorough investigation [into Ndiaye’s conduct]. Other people [who are not South Africans] have come forward and added more information.”
Jordaan said it is interesting to note that after the Ghana Football Association initially dismissed Safa’s complaint to Fifa and elected to attack the South Africans rather than the merits of the case, they have also gone silent.
“The statutes of Fifa say they must protect the integrity of their competitions,” the Safa president continued.
“So I think the matter has become more serious now. Ghana initially said our protest was frivolous. It is really strange that a federation attacks another in the manner they did. It is strange that they held a press conference and they attacked Safa.
“But the thing is we never accused them of anything. We wanted the referee, Maguette Ndiaye, to be investigated.”
timeslive.co.za
