Contradictions and Inconsistencies Facing the South African Football Association and the Premier Soccer League

Abstract

Football is considered the beautiful game in the global village. What makes it beautiful is the notion of zero tolerance on issues of racism including other forms of exclusion. The world football mother body FIFA emphasizes “Fair Play” at all times. FIFA donated a huge amount of money for the development of the beautiful game in South Africa after the 2010 World Soccer Tournament. The focus of this chapter is on some of the challenges facing the South African Football Association and the South African Premier Soccer league. The main focus is to highlight the gender inequalities, contradictions, and inconsistencies in football in South Africa within the context of the South African Football Association (SAFA) and the Premier Soccer League (PSL). Further, the aim of this chapter is to contribute within the anthropology of soccer in South Africa. Good governance is utilized as a conceptual framework to understand issues of gender inequality, contradictions, and inconsistencies within the main football structures in South Africa. The research methodology employed in this chapter includes, among others, person-to-person interviews of the soccer loving persons in South Africa. To supplement the above interviews, secondary sources ranging from the relevant journals, books, policy documents, newspaper articles, and reports were utilized. This chapter also provides the research findings with the view of showing the challenges facing football in South Africa. The chapter concludes by providing the recommendations with the view of resolving some of the issues raised.