NAFSA hold supporters Conferance

NATIONAL FOOTBALL CONSULTATIVE CONFERENCE TO PAVE THE WAY FOR TRANSPARENCY,   ACCOUNTABILITY AND TRANSFORMATION IN FOOTBALL ADMINISTRATION

The National Football Supporters Consultative Conference is expected to pave the way for more transparency, accountability and transformation in the administration of football. This is but one of the key topical resolutions to be ratified by the Conference of all football loyalists. Themed ‘United in Patriotism and Nation Building,” the Conference is scheduled to take place from the 27^th to the 29^th of July 2017, at SAFA House in NASREC, Johannesburg.

“NAFSA holds a strong view that there is grey area on whether or not club owners and football administrators are accountable to the paying customers of the beautiful game of football, supporters. In an attempt to bridge this battle of ideas, we saw it fit that we bring all interested parties under one roof for a national dialogue through which we can find a common ground on the rules of engagement. There is a popular among our members that accounting to Parliament alone is not enough to ensure that there is transparency, accountability and transformation at SAFA and the PSL. We believe that South Africa is far behind other football federations like the United Kingdom, in ensuring that football supporters participate meaningfully in the transformation of the beautiful game of football. Just yesterday, the FA Council in the United Kingdom confirmed the selection of the second fan representative to serve on the FA Council,” says NAFSA Secretary General, Siyabulela Makunga.

This historic Conference will be attended by football supporters’ structures from all nine provinces of the Republic of South Africa. Representatives from PSL Clubs as well as organised football supporters associations from the United Kingdom and the African continents have also been invited so they can share best practices from their respective confederations.

The Conference will discuss and resolve on a number of topical issues including but not limited to:

• Supporter Education, Safety and Security at stadia and the implications of newly introduced Video Assistant Referee;  
• Mass mobilization strategies and programmes to support PSL and national teams’ matches;
• Advocacy, Awareness Campaigns and Institutional Capacity Building e.g. Anti-Hooliganism Campaign;
• Funding mechanisms for sustainable supporter mobilization and financial viability of NAFSA and its Programme of Action; and
• Endorsement and Adoption of NAFSA Constitution and SAFA Statues 

Among the key speakers invited to attend and address the Consultative Conference are the Minister of Sport and Recreation Honourable Thulas Nxesi, Premier of the Gauteng Province, Mr. David Makhura, President of SASCOC, Mr Gideon Sam, President of SAFA, Dr. Danny Jordaan, Executive Chairman of the PSL, Dr. Irvin Khoza, Mr. Dennis Mumble, SAFA Chief Executive Officer, Dr. Patrice Motsepe, Chairman, Motsepe Foundation, Mr. Errol Sweeney of Ireland, Mr. Kevin Miles, Football Supporters Federation, United Kingdom, General Secretary of the South African Players Union, Mr. Thulaganyo Gaoshubelwe as well as Advocate Sarfo Aberbresse, President of the Coalition of Supporters Unions of Africa.

The National African Football Supporters’ Association (NAFSA) is a voluntary, democratically run and an official representative body of all football loyalists which is recognised by the South African Football Association (SAFA), the Premier Soccer League (PSL), the Ministry of Sport and Recreation and enjoys healthy working relations with the provincial departments of Sports, Arts, Culture and Recreation and is also a member of the Gauteng Sports Council. In its founding mission NAFSA aims to mobilize South Africans, football supporters in particular, within and beyond the Republic of South Africa, to rally behind all national football teams, while creating an enabling environment for football loyalists to play a meaningful role in the transformation and development of football.

NAFSA has regional structures across the Republic of South Africa and desires to establish more through a democratic and open process. This noble cause, has in the main, aimed to mobilize football supporters within and beyond the Republic of South Africa, to rally behind all national football teams, while creating an enabling environment for football loyalists to play a meaningful role in the transformation and development of football.

-Press Release