History of CAF - South African Apartheid Issue

South African Apartheid Issue

A committee was also set up to look into the case of South Africa, who run two separate federations the oldest run by only whites while the other recognised the other races. The committee visited South Africa on January 16, 1956. Nevertheless, the very fact that all the other founders had not objected to the Africa-Zone, FIFA membership of Apartheid South Africa in the previous four years, indicates that the abrupt change of attitude was influenced by newcomer Ydnekatchew Tessema. Confirming this assumption, on CAF News number 30 of October 1987, Sudanese, Dr. Abdel Halim Mohammad, who had attended all the earlier meetings of the African Zone in FIFA that were concluded without opposition to Apartheid South Africa, had testified that Yidnekatchew's firm stand against Apartheid started in Khartoum when he insisted that the South African team should be a mixed team.

Established five years before the Organization of African Unity, and the famous Rivonia Trial that passed life sentences on Mandela, Albertina Sisulu and other black South African activists; the African football Confederation was the first International Organization to dare say no to then very strong Apartheid, as far back as 1957. At this point in history; Apartheid was acceptable both to the International Olympic Committee and to FIFA. The two heavy weight Global Sports Institutions thus labeled the unprecedented stand of the young Confederation, as one of, "mixing politics with sports". Subsequently, FIFA told the Confederation that it had no right to expel a member association of FIFA, and instructed immediate reinstatement of Apartheid South Africa. The new Confederation did not only refuse to comply, but, demanded that FIFA itself expel the racist association from membership.

This first confrontation, which could have easily caused the early withdrawal of the three African member associations, subsided briefly, when FIFA under the Presidency of Englishman Arthur Drewry promised to review the African position. However, it relapsed again, after a three man fact finding mission led by the newly elected president, Sir Stanley Rous, travelled to South Africa, and concluded that the National Football Federation had nothing to do with Government instituted Racial Discrimination. The controversial recommendation of this delegation to readmit the South African Federation was adopted at the FIFA Congress in Cairo 1963.

The African delegation at the Congress in Lisbon, were Abdel Aziz Salem, Mohammad Latif, Youssef Mohammad (Egypt); Abdel Halim Mohammad, Abdel Rahim Shaddad, Badawi Mohammad Ali (Sudan) and Fred Fell (South Africa). They got together on June 7 and 8 at the Avenida Hotel and decided among other things to create an African Football Confederation and to organise a competition among countries beginning from 1957 in Khartoum, Sudan, where the statutes and regulations of the new body would be drawn.