The heated battle for the Safa presidency was further ignited on Tuesday when FIFA stepped into the smouldering furnace and announced that neither frontline candidates Irvin Khoza and Danny Jordaan would be able to remain a principle member of the World Cup Organising Committee if elected at the helm of South African soccer's controlling body.

Khoza is the LOC's Chairman and Jordaan the organisation's CEO and FIFA had previously expressed their disatisfaction with the timing of the Safa election to find a successor to outgoing president Molefi Oliphant — suggesting they could be disruptive and should be postponed until after next year's World Cup.

But if the statement by FIFA secretary-general Jerome Valcke after a meeting of the LOC Board of Directors was designed to cool the air, it has instead only exacerbated the controversy.

Sources within Safa expressed the view that FIFA had no power to make a ruling regarding the status of the Safa President — pointing to the fact that previous presidents of World Cup host nations had headed the tournament's Organising Committees as well.

"There is no conflict of interest here," said a Safa source, "and FIFA has never voiced any objections in the past over the head of a national associaition also heading the local World Cup Organising Committee."

Valcke, however, warned that the election itself was of such a contentious nature that it could affect the smooth-running of the World Cup — "for which we have an obligation to protect on behalf of our 207-member nations."

FIFA's Secretary-General warned that if the World Cup preparations were disrupted in one way or another, the world controlling body would not hesitate to assume full responsibity for the running of the 32-nation soccer extravaganza in South Africa.

And even before FIFA's intervention, a dark cloud had hovered over the elections after it was suggested Jordaan would not be eligible to stand as a candidate for the Safa presidency because he was effectively a paid official of Safa because of filling the position of the LOC's CEO.

Indignant members of the Jordaan election lobby have reacted to this with indignation, first nominating an alternate candidate to oppose Khoza — and now, it is suggested, influencing FIFA to try and prevent Khoza from holding the joint posts of Safa President and LOC Chairman.

Sapa

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