THE SAFA PRESIDENCY: With Danny and Irvin going head-to-head, is Kirsten the only peaceful option?

The big three: Khoza, Jordaan and Nematandani

KIRSTEN NEMATANDANI is not your typical national football president. Through the alleged match-fixing, the alleged near-bankruptcy, the alleged bribery of regional representatives, the alleged fleet of Mercedes, the 55-year-old has kept his head above water as the leader of the South African Football Association.

Appointed as a "compromise candidate" when Irvin Khoza and Danny Jordaan went head to head at the end of 2009, Kirsten has not had it easy.

With the 2010 World Cup in South Africa looming, Khoza was ruled out of the top job because of his club affiliation. Jordaan was asked not to stand as he was running the World Cup local organising committee. The meeting which elevated Nematandani to the SAFA presidency involved judges, arguments and slanging matches.

From that day until this, Nematandani has been the scapegoat for many of South African football's shortcomings. He was the man suspended when FIFA's pre-World Cup match-fixing report dropped, he had to accept his resinstatement in the SAFA House car park, he was the man accused of cocking-up when sponsors left, when money ran short.

But under his reign South Africa has successfully hosted a World Cup AND an African Cup of Nations. Under his reign, Irvin "Four Jobs" Khoza's thirst for power has been frightening to watch while Jordaan probes carefully from his position as a SAFA vice-president with strong links at FIFA and CAF and that R500m FIFA Legacy fund cash burning a hole in his pocket.

Danny has told me he will "definitely" stand for SAFA President on September 28. Khoza is leaving it to his allies to change the constitution to allow his candidacy which will see the head of the PSL, NSL and Orlando Pirates grab another hugely powerful position.

Tonight, from a source I can't reveal, I'm told Kaizer Motaung will take over from Khoza as PSL chairman if the Iron Duke gets the SAFA job. But with the added information: "Kaizer will just be a "ghost" chairman, Khoza will really run the PSL and SAFA."

And between these two men stands Nematandani. Kirsten was born in Makhado near Louis Trichardt in 1958. He speaks five languages and has a footballing background, coaching Chibuku Young Stars in 1986-88 before moving in to administration.

Neither Khoza nor Jordaan can boast that. Administration rather than football was their goal. I have in my possession documents suggesting all kinds of things surrounding the dispute between the two heavyweights. Publicly, Khoza and Jordaan proclaim to be best mates, both support Orlando Pirates, both politically connected to the very top in this football-loving nation.

And then there's Kirsten. Nice bloke, articulate, desperately trying to keep the ship sailing comfortably amid the machinations with the still unannounced Presidential inquiry into match-fixing lurking in the background.

Checking the facts: lunch with Danny Jordaan

I spoke to Kirsten off the record tonight. I've spoken to Jordaan in depth about the state of affairs at SAFA.

What I can say is Kirsten remains keen to be the filling in the sandwich, the arbitrator between club owning millionaire Khoza and long-time ANC sports politician Jordaan.

Nematandani told me tonight: "It's not been easy Neal, but somebody needs to get these two factions to work together. We don't want one becoming President and the other left out. That has been my job for nearly four years. I've tried to do that to the best of my ability."

It's an unenviable task. Khoza has created a PSL which is largely successful but often chaotic. His ownership of one of South Africa's largest club's calls his position in to question constantly. Jordaan will put country ahead of club at last, and he will focus on development rather than short-term goals.

But Nematandani claims he can keep the pair from going to war, his presidential mandate from the start. Perhaps this strange compromise is the way forward, the only peaceful solution.

With the English Premier League season kicking off tomorrow, preview of my beloved Arsenal's chances HERE: http://www.thepundits.co.za/1314-season-preview-arsenal/

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Amazed by Amazon... two reviews of A GAME APART I thought you might like to read...

DAVID BRYSON, one of the top reviewers on Amazon, has put up this review of my first novel, A GAME APART. He gave it five stars – and touched on a lot of the areas you hope reviewers will when you set out on the publishing journey. Thanks David. There’s also a review from an M Nelson, which I’ve added below. Please give them both a read and if you’re interested, click through on www.nealcollins.co.uk or search for the book on Amazon... with Eugene Terreblanche’s death over the weekend it’s a fraught time for the World Cup. I hope my words offer some perspective for football fans planning to travel – or those who will simply watch from home. The background to current events in South Africa is far from simple. Years of discrimination and hatred have been put aside in the name of "peace and reconciliation"... bitter outbreaks are bound to occur. As I said yesterday, we can only pray the voices of sanity prevail. Is this what you would call a novel? At least some of the characters are fictional, although there is probably a strong basis in real life-stories even with these. How close to historical fact the details of the story are I don't know either, but I would guess pretty damn close. This book is more history than anything else. Although the plot line is hung around international football (in America-speak `soccer') don't look for anything here along the lines of Roy of the Rovers. Matches are described with an enthusiast's sense for detail and atmosphere, but one of the things that I like best about the narration is how even these sporting commentaries never lose contact with the basic political thread, the ghastly tale of apartheid in South Africa. I very much doubt that international sport can be separated from global politics. To those who pleaded for that the late James Cameron responded `Go on, just try.' Neal Collins has more sense, however much he loves football for itself he knows what was really important when it was a matter of football in pre-Mandela South Africa, and the games that he describes never become isolated episodes described just for the sake of talking about football. The fictional element of the plot is very well put together. The hero is of slightly uncertain racial origins, and he is made to grow and develop as he escapes his slag of a mother and his scrubber of an English girlfriend via his secondment to a team in South Africa. There he sees things that he was not meant to see, he finds a woman whom he deserves and who deserves him, but above all he saves his soul by his determination to expose the true filthy reality of the South African regime. This book is strong on atmosphere. It does not just describe the governmental orders and regulations, it takes us right into the heart of the communities affected by them and does not spare us the details of what the suffering was like. Almost more important, because more educative and illuminating, it gets to the heart also of the Afrikaner mentality. Neal Collins puts his finger on the inferiority complex, the chips on shoulders, the defensiveness that uses brutality as an outlet for a sense of insecurity, the contempt for truth, the glorification of ignorance and the fostering of the belief that it does not matter what you do it matters what flag you do it under. It was all so reminiscent of inter-wars Germany, and I think the author says so, perhaps through the mouth of his hero. One parallel that is not explicitly drawn, possibly because there was no need to spell it out, is how the grievances of the Boers, as of the Germans before them, were not imaginary. The Treaty of Versailles was the last word in smug triumphalist stupidity, and the treatment of the Boers by the British was not much better than the viciousness that the humiliated Boers in their turn dished out to who they could dish it out to. Worth remembering whenever we feel inclined to shake our heads in self-righteous piety. For once, the historian in the author is able to end on a note of not just hope but actual achievement. Whatever the shortcomings of the new South Africa, Mandela's vision and strategy look good by most relevant comparisons. I am not going to be able to attend the World Cup in South Africa, but I shall be following with interest the experiences and reports of those who can make it. Global sport is an increasingly important element in global politics, and this book is a very timely reminder of what happened at a time when South Africa could not have qualified for any such festival of the world's game, (although even in its darkest era rugby continued to sidle through the moral barriers and so would cricket have but for the foolishness of the South African government in the case of d'Oliveira.) We keep hearing pious sentiments about how the Holocaust must never be allowed to happen again, and I wonder in that case what those who express such unexceptionable opinions think happened in Rwanda, Cambodia and Bosnia. It would be ironic if sport can achieve what diplomacy can't, but if it can it should be encouraged to. I have no hesitation in giving this book 5 stars. Neal Collins is no great literary stylist, but his book scores heavily for the power with which he gets his message across, for the welcome absence of preachiness, and for the admirable sense of timing in publishing it. If I felt even a moment's doubt regarding the fifth star, it was dispelled instantly on finding that the author is a fellow Arsenal supporter.

Somebody called M Nelson added this, shorter review, which is equally satisfiying from my point of view: A story that instantly captures the irrepressible spirit of the Black nation in South Africa. Their generosity, sense of humour and love of the football game along with the traditions and superstitions of their pride culture is portrayed successfully. The immense atrocities and madness South African people were subjected to by the Apartheid regime is captured and the way the author has condensed some of the atrocities committed, shocks one successfully into realising the fight and tragedy that South Africa has been through to achieve the miraculous Rainbow Nation. The book is not all "doom and gloom" however as the sense of humour and the love of the game of football that is so prevalent in South Africa does successfully shine through. SA deserves to host the World Cup 2010! Both of these review can be found at http://www.amazon.com/Game-Apart-Story-Behind-Africa/dp/1449057489/ref=cm. For further info, have a look around www.nealcollins.co.uk... and for video, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eqck5JuZtuc