The composition of the South African Indoor Futsal (SAIFA) squad has not just got the tongues wagging with disapproval but opened a can of worms as not one player from Cape Town was included.
The SA side will be competing in an international friendly, much to the dismay of three local futsal sides, Mustangs, Cape Town Titans and Inter Belhar who voiced their concerns over the fact that talent in Cape Town was overlooked.
It’s believed that the Futsal Association of Cape Town (FACT) wanted to start a league some time ago, where clubs had allegedly already paid their registration fees. However, the aggrieved clubs are of the opinion that FACT had not concluded the previous league campaign with a presentation and to issue them with medals and trophies for the winners and runners-up.
Jeffrey Swano, head coach at the Mustangs Futsal club was the first to question the omission of local talent and even went so far as laying down a marker. Swano posted on Facebook: “This is the national team that will represent our country, without a single player from CT selected. South African Indoor Football Association (SAIFA) claims we don’t have a league in WC hence why they couldn’t select any of our players. Yet they were supposed to run the leagues nationally but the people they appointed weren’t competent to do so.
“I challenge this national team to come play a warm-up friendly against a team we put together here in Western Cape. SAFA Cape Town, please extend an invite to the South African National Futsal team to come play against us. We will cover the venue cost and appoint officials as we know they don’t have a big budget. Futsal will not be owned,” Swano concluded.
Inter Belhar Futsal club also weighed in when they questioned what is going on with the national team selection? They’ve also listed their concerns with FACT on their Facebook page which read: “Earlier this month, we sent a detailed letter directly to the President of SAIFA highlighting the serious issues holding Futsal back in Cape Town and South Africa.
“Constant delays and broken promises around Regional Leagues; Poorly managed competitions (teams threatened for non-compliance when it was brought to their attention that the hefty registration fees is not something community-based clubs can afford, no medals or trophies, streaming debts unpaid.
“No AGM or platform for clubs to raise issues or propose solutions; Failure to secure venues, despite community clubs like ours managing to do so successfully.’ No acknowledgement or support for the community-driven leagues and initiatives that are single-handedly keeping futsal alive in Cape Town (like Samba V’s League in Portlands, our Inter Belhar Junior League, Mustangs, Bishop Lavis, and many others).
“Despite outlining all these concerns and respectfully asking for SAIFA to step in, we received no acknowledgement or response whatsoever. This silence speaks volumes,” the statement read.
Cape Town Titans, who has been ” deeply involved in building and growing futsal in Cape Town for more than 30 years,” is of the opinion that it’s an indictment on the custodians of Futsal.
Titans released a statement on their Facebook page to voice their disapproval: “It is profoundly sad to see our loyal and transparent contribution met with the exclusion of our players from National Selection. The selection was conducted behind closed doors, without the Provincial Trials or Regional Tournaments that guarantee fair representation and equal opportunity for all players,” the statement concluded.
Meanwhile, Richard Fortune (pictured), president of FACT responded by saying that those not selected are “not in good standing with FACT.”
Fortune explained to No Bones with Jones. “I must confirm that payments were made for the season of 2024’25 but when it came to paying up for the new season, clubs like Titans, Mustangs and Inter (Belhar) had not paid any registrations for the player or club. A meeting was held on 4 August and it was communicated that a deadline for the end of that month was set. They are moaning and groaning but they aren’t paid up members.
“And don’t call out FACT! If you do, you call out Richard Fortune. Many of those teams are here because of me. If you’re a paid up member and in good standing to be selected, then there should be no issue. I want to end off with requesting them to follow protocol and making them aware of the reason and notifying them about a national team selection due to an upcoming friendly against Mozambique,” Fortune concluded.
