The South African Football Association have confirmed that they will take forensic investigator Bart Henderson to court for defamation.
Just days after SAFA announced a new partnership with 10Bet, and their public row with the Banyana Banyana players, the football mother body called another press conference on Friday morning in Nasrec.
Henderson, who states he has 28 years of experience as a forensic investigator, has claimed he was recently employed by a former Trustee of the now-dissolved 2010 FIFA World Cup Legacy Trust to investigate the trust and SAFA.
He then published a 44-page document, which accuses several governance issues in SAFA, and the extent of the alleged financial mismanagement which runs into the hundreds of millions of rands.
“One individual decided to publish, what is referred to as a ‘forensic investigation’. Myself working in finance and I do hold a qualification, and I do practice as an accountant, and I look at the terminologies used, and I look at also processes to arrive at answers, which come to the financial right to the other side to respond and to be consulted. Now those things weren’t done,” SAFA vice-president Bennet Bailey said on Friday morning.
“This thing went viral. And many other executive members received it, and their families and it went viral. We said ‘No, this is not good to continue. We need to put our foot down. We are professional people and like you, we service the ecosystem of football.
“So the executive met on 17 June to decide as to how that should be dealt with. We’re not in that sector but we’ll be laying charges. Today’s presser is about informing you where we are.”
