The South African Indoor Football Association (Saifa) and the South African Futsal Federation (Saff) have agreed in principle to integrate the two structures to form one unified Futsal structure.
The two parties held a meeting which took place in Durban on 5 May, to find a solution to their challenge of having two Futsal bodies in South Africa.
As a result, both the Saifa and Saff have agreed to unify the two parties to form one Futsal structure, as they both have similar objectives and visions to seek parallel affiliation to both Fifa and AMF to best serve Futsal in South Africa.
Saifa released the following statement on the outcome of the meeting between Saifa and Saff, which reads:
Many of you would have heard of Futsal which is a five a side game played worldwide. Fifa the world controlling body of football has a Futsal world cup for men every four years similar to the traditional eleven a side game.
AMF is a similar structure that operates parallel to Fifa but unlike Fifa, it caters only for Futsal competitions in most age groups for both males and females, worldwide.
In South Africa, Safa is the only legitimate controlling body of football as Safa is affiliated to both Caf and Fifa. Above all Safa is recognised as the only legitimate controlling body of football in South Africa by SASCOC and by the government of the Republic of South Africa.
Safa has delegated its responsibilities of Futsal to its Associate member, the South African Indoor Football Association (Saifa) which was formed in 2002.
In 2017, the South African Futsal Federation (Saff) was established and it is affiliated to AMF. This resulted in the presence of two Futsal bodies in South Africa with the similar aims and objectives.
In order to find a solution to the challenge of two Futsal bodies in South Africa, and with the view to working towards a single united Futsal structure, Saifa initiated a meeting with Saff which took place on Sunday, 05 May 2019 in Durban. The parties agreed in principle to integrate the two structures so that there is only one unified Futsal structure recognised by Safa in our country. It is the stated intention of both parties to develop a holistic and sustainable unified Futsal structure that will seek parallel affiliation to both Fifa and AMF so that it best serves the interest of Futsal in South Africa.
The meeting was attended by members of the Saifa Executive Committee and two representatives of Saff including their founding member. This is the beginning of many meetings to follow in the integration process.
