13 March 2026 – The senior leadership of the South African Masters & Legends Football Association (SAMLFA) met with South African Football Association (SAFA) President Dr Danny Jordaan and CEO Lydia Monyepao at SAFA House on Friday where they discussed several issues affecting former footballers.
SAMLFA President Buddha Mathathe said the main objective of the meeting was to cement unity among former footballers and speak in one voice.
“This meeting was seeking to unite the organization, SAMLFA in particular, and bring to life the unity that all of us are yearning for, of having one united SAMLFA,” he said.
“To a very large extent, I believe we have achieved this through the intervention of SAFA and the SAFA President (Dr Jordaan) in particular. I must also mention that the CEO of SAFA Lydia Monyepao, who is a former footballer herself, was part of the proceedings.
“We have agreed in one voice, all of us who were in the meeting, that what is important for all of us is the unity of former footballers in the country. As former footballers, we have an obligation to ensure that we make a contribution towards the development of football in this country, and also assist the Federation with the developmental programs that they have.”
The SAMLFA President will lead the unification process of former professional football players in the country and he is pleading with the SAFA Regional leadership in the country to assist the process. “We will also reconfigure and beef up the SAMLFA National Interim committee to reflect the unity we are talking about and be inclusive.”
Besides Dr Jordaan, the SAFA CEO and Mathathe, the meeting was also attended by Moeketsi Senqhi (Interim SAMLFA Vice President), Lebohang Marekoa (Interim Secretary General, John Bennett (Deputy Chairperson Northern Cape, James Mothibi (Chairperson Northern Cape), Hareaipha “Simba” Marumo (Interim Treasurer General), Rio Mkhabela (Gauteng leadership) and Patson Banda (Chairman Think Tank).
Senqhi said the meeting was a huge success as they will now all work towards a common purpose. “Let me just echo the sentiments of the President, that the main purpose of this particular meeting was to forge unity amongst the former professional players. We want to make sure that this organization goes forward, and we can only go forward when we are united,” he said.
“The struggle has been for rather too long now, that the former soccer players have been at loggerheads. But now, today, after having met the President, thanks to him for coming over to discuss things with us.
“What is important is that after we have agreed in this particular meeting, we are going to go to the provinces. A few provinces are already compliant. We have to go to the provinces that are non-compliant, then to those provinces that have parallel structures and we have to also make sure that the structures are in sync.”
Amongst the tasks at hand, the organisation will review the statutes of SAMLFA and specifically include women. The statutes will be tabled at a Congress of SAMLFA where they will agree on the decisions. A database of all the players in the country will be compiled.
They will also look at the condition of former players and introduce initiatives aimed at alleviate the stress of former professional players in the country. They will also align the provinces because in some instances there are several structures in place.
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