WeeklySA_AdminHORRIFIED: SAFA President to make proposal to FIFA in the wake of Vinícius Jr incident
By Sports Reporter
South African Football Association (SAFA) President Dr Danny Jordaan will write to FIFA and request the world governing body to investigate whether there’s link between the racial abuse of players during games and match manipulation.
Dr Jordaan is one of the millions of people around the world who were horrified when Real Madrid star Vinícius Jr was racially abused by fans at Mestalla Stadium during a La Liga match against Valencia on Sunday (21 May 2023). This led to the game being halted for 10 minutes.
“You know, 25 May is a celebration of Africa Day and Africa Day focusses on Africa being the best the continent can be, its successes and its achievements. And always in May something happens,” the SAFA President said.
“The month of May has strangely always reminded us that we have a lot of work to do. On 25 May 2020 George Floyd was murdered in the streets of Minneapolis, USA. He died after a white police officer pressed his knee on his neck and choked him for nine minutes“.
Dr Jordaan said the trend of incidents happening in May would continue again in 2023 when Vinícius Jr was racially abused by fans at the Mestalla Stadium.
“Now on 23 May 2023 we had the terrible racist incident where one of the Brazil superstars, Vinícius Jr, was abused on the field of play. And what made it worse is the fact that he was given a red card for the way he reacted to the incident. This was not the first time he was abused at stadiums – it was the 10th time that he was subjected to racial abuse in La Liga. The question is what must be done about this?
“So in my address to COSAFA (during the Council of Southern Africa Football Association’s AGM in Sandton, Johannesburg, on Friday 26 May 2023) I said certainly we must do something about it. Therefore, I am going to submit a proposal to FIFA that the governing body must look at whether racism (during matches) can be placed in the context of match manipulation.
“Match manipulation to me is when people outside the field of play try to influence the outcome of a match. This is certainly what the fans are doing, and what the referee has done (during the Real Madrid vs Valencia match).
In fact, in the match manipulation regulations it states that if a referee issues unwarranted red cards and yellow cards, it can be interpreted as match manipulation. So I am going to submit the proposal to FIFA because every single African player has gone through the same thing as Vinícius Jr. You speak of Abedi Pele, you speak of George Weah, you speak of Didier Drogba and you speak of Samuel Eto’o, among others.
Now the current generation of players are going through the same thing. It must stop and we will be part of that process to deal with racism on the football field.”
LEEDS ONCE AGAIN IN THE DOLDRUMS
OWNERSHIP: Is it going to be bought, is it going to stay the same? That is the first thing that needs to be sorted out,” coach Sam Allardyce
By Sports Reporter
Sam Allardyce has called on Leeds United’s ownership situation to be resolved as the club faces up to life back in the Championship.
Three seasons after Marcelo Bielsa gloriously returned the West Yorkshire outfit to the top flight after a 16-year absence, Leeds find themselves once again out of England’s elite.
Both Allardyce and the club as a whole in their own statement apologised for the relegation that was confirmed by a 4-1 home loss to Tottenham, with Leeds also stating they are in a “strong position” to mount an immediate promotion bid.
However, Allardyce feels the ownership issue has to be resolved as a priority. “Is it going to be bought, is it going to stay the same? That is the first thing that needs to be sorted out,” he said.
It is understood a deal is in place for the owners of the San Francisco 49ers, who currently own 44% of the club, to complete a full sale by buying chairman Andrea Radrizzani’s remaining shares in a deal that could ultimately be worth £500m.
However, there has also been reports that there is no fall-back figure in the event of relegation, which would inevitably impact the valuation of the club.
Radrizzani bought Leeds for £45m in 2017. He did not attend the Tottenham game so did not hear the chants for him to leave the club by furious supporters, who feel his loyalty to now-axed football director Victor Orta and the decision to sack beloved former boss Bielsa in February 2022 are the major factors behind where Leeds now find themselves.
Leeds United picked up one point out of 12 in Sam Allardyce’s four games in charge Allardyce says he is likely to have talks with the club hierarchy in the coming days about whether he will stay on after initially only signing a contract for the final four games of the season.
He does have the experience of Championship promotion campaigns with Bolton and West Ham. However, he accepts no decision has been made from either side about his continued presence at Elland Road.“It is really sad the club is in this position,” he added. “To the fans I apologise. The last thing I wanted was to be the man who took Leeds United down.
“It is a tough old world when things start failing. You have to come back more determined.
“I haven’t said I am staying. There is a lot of discussion to be done and I am not committing myself. We will thrash it out because both sides have to be comfortable.”
What happens now?
Leeds’ statement called relegation “painful” and admitted this season’s efforts had “not been good enough”.
However, it added that “behind the scenes we have worked hard to ensure that the past will not be repeated. Our focus is now on how we get straight back to the Premier League” and “Leeds United remains in a strong position to build a team that can challenge for promotion from the Championship next season”.
