Fresh from being re-elected for a fourth successive term as Safa president, Danny Jordaan is uncertain whether he will run again when his tenure expires in 2030, when he will be 79 years old.
Jordaan will continue as the Safa boss for the next four years after receiving 157 votes, defeating challenger Sandile Zungu, who got 82 during the Safa elective congress in Midrand on Saturday to retain the hottest seat in SA football.
Saturday’s win, which was highly predictable given Jordaan had lobbied regions for more than two years despite initially declaring he would step down, extended his term to 17 years.
But it is now unclear if he wants to add more years beyond 2030, given his vague response when asked in the post-election media conference, reasoning he does not appoint or nominate himself.
“Well, first of all, I don’t appoint myself in Safa, even if you think that way,” Jordaan, who still faces a court case regarding alleged financial mismanagement, said.
“Safa is a democratic organisation, so tomorrow they can have a vote of no-confidence in me, saying I’m out.
“I can decide I want to go [and] in their discussions they can say no, give us a little more time because we want the next transition.
“But one of the things we cannot have [is] somebody that comes in and starts from day one [without prior experience] in terms of placing SA in a global context.
“You must really ask them [Safa national executive committee] why I’m always here.”
Asked if there was already a succession plan for someone to take over in future, Jordaan said there was, but refused to provide details.
“We are having a workshop with Fifa to deal with what we call vision 2030 because, as I said, football is planned in four-year cycles, from one World Cup to the next.
“We just concluded the 2026 World Cup in Mexico, Canada and the USA and the next one is in four years, which happens to be in Morocco, Portugal and Spain, so that’s where we are going,” he said.
“In those four years, the element and targets are something that we will work on together with Fifa and this new NEC.
“I don’t want to talk in detail because it is Safa’s plans.”
Meanwhile, Zungu was gracious in defeat and said he would not challenge the result.
“I lost, and in the balance of evidence and the overall scheme of things, I should accept the outcome of the elections,” Zungu said.
“The processes leading to the adoption of credentials were less satisfactory but that is not for me to do anything about.” — Sowetan