Dennis Mumble, the former Chief Executive Officer of the South African Football Association (SAFA), has stated that negligence among SAFA administrators has resulted in the Teboho Mokoena situation, leading to uncertainty surrounding Bafana Bafana. Mokoena was ineligible to play for Bafana in last Friday’s 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifier against Lesotho, and as a consequence, the team may face a deduction of three points due to his improper selection for the match in Polokwane.
Mumble created a blueprint for SAFA on effective administration after the 2012 Africa Cup of Nations qualification fiasco, during which Bafana misinterpreted the rules and failed to qualify for the tournament. He emphasizes that the team manager is responsible for keeping up to date with player disciplinary records.
SAFA’s Head of Delegation is also to blame for allowing an ineligible player to feature for the national team. Following the “Dance of Shame” saga at the Mbombela Stadium caused by the misinterpretation of CAF rules, SAFA decided to produce a blueprint to avoid international embarrassment in the future.
The 71-year-old Mumble has served in various senior roles at SAFA, but served as Chief Operations Officer between 2011 and 2013. He also served as general manager and chief executive for the football association. Mumble explains that the decision to appoint two individuals to oversee national team matters was intentional and aligned with SAFA’s standardized reporting structure.
Consequently, both the team manager and the HOD, a SAFA NEC member, should have had immediate access to the disciplinary records of every squad member at their fingertips.
“We developed certain procedures to make sure that we don’t overlook these things. You will remember the embarrassment we went through in 2012 and that infamous celebration in Mbombela, and we took precautions to make sure that does not happen again. We wrote that into our administrative procedures.”
“There are two people responsible for that … one is the head of the delegation. In the head of the delegation’s report, there is a form that we require the head of the delegation to complete. Which includes the cautions and the expulsions of players, so that they can keep track of those,” explains Mumble.
Despite the administrative bungle, Bafana Bafana could be off the hook.
Lesotho failed to lodge a written protest within the stipulated timeframe. They were supposed to formally protest within two hours after the match, followed up by a full report within 24 hours.
“The clause in that rule says if a player fielded in a match is ineligible following a protest, the team to which the player belongs will be sanctioned by forfeiting the match and paying a minimum fine of 6,000 Swiss Francs. The player may also be sanctioned, so that one is very clear, it says here; following a protest, the deduction is only applied if there is a protest that has been filed.”
According to Mumble, Bafana Bafana will also not automatically be docked three points should they be found guilty. The final decision lies with the FIFA disciplinary committee.
“It doesn’t mean that Bafana Bafana is out of the woods yet because Article 19.1 is also obvious. [It] says if a player fielded in a match or competition is declared ineligible, the FIFA judicial bodies, taking into consideration the integrity of the competition concerned, may impose any appropriate disciplinary measures.
Then, whether that measure is three points, it’s up to the FIFA committee to decide,” he adds. According to the FIFA statutes, SAFA should face the music for violating the rules, whether Lesotho lodged an official complaint within the stipulated time frame or not.
“The rules are very clear … that the onus is on the participating member. The participating member is responsible for fielding eligible players, and that responsibility lies with the football association. The consequence of not abiding by that rule then evokes a disciplinary sanction or a disciplinary consideration.” Mumble has already written and published seven books, and five of those deal with football governance and administration.
