Resignations rattle SA sport

With a spate of resignations in SA sport, how long till the administration issues start to affect the national sides?

It seems as if football in South Africa has been going through a time of change after Bafana Bafana’s 1-1 draw with Ethiopia resulted in the firing of Pitso Mosimane and the consequent hiring of South African football legend Gordon Igesund. Although this has captured the media’s attention, it seems that the resignation of yet another Premier Soccer League (PSL) CEO has gone unnoticed.

Stanley Matthews, who was previously the Director of Supersport United, resigned from the position of PSL CEO recently in order to work for Multichoice (the company that operates the DSTV satellite service.) Matthews held the job for a mere five months, although he admits his stay was shorter than he envisaged (we should hope so considering he signed a three-year contract). The resignation is nothing to worry about, maintains PSL Chairperson Irvin Khoza, especially considering that Matthews left because he was offered a deal he couldn’t refuse with Multichoice. But when coupled with the fact that Communications Manager Altaaf Kazi resigned the month before and that the previous PSL CEO Zola Majavu held the job for three months before resigning, you have to start wondering what's happening at the PSL.

Unfortunately for sport in South Africa, it seems as if football is not the only sporting code that is experiencing administration issues. Acting CEO of Cricket South Africa (CSA) Jacques Faul recently handed in his resignation after only four months at the helm. Jacques Faul took over the reigns from Gerald Majola, who was asked to step down after a bonus paying scandal. CSA have not accepted Faul’s resignation and are imploring him to rethink his options. One can only hope that, for the sake of stability, Faul decides to stay on as Acting CEO.

As it stands the continuous changes within the administration of South African sport have not yet affected the performance of our national sides, but surely the cracks will begin to show before long. Surely it is in the country's best interests to sort out all administration issues before they start to have negative effects on the national sides.