Jordaan warns of tough times ahead for African football

by Graeme Jackson

Monday Mar 30, 2020. 08:55

Danny Jordaan, the president of the South African Football Association (SAFA) has predicted that the current coronavirus pandemic will hit African clubs very hard in the pocket.

Many teams on the continent make a significant portion of their revenue by selling players, but the postponement of the vast majority of leagues around the world means that the time and nature of the next transfer window remains a complete unknown.

The disruption of this transfer business could have a major financial impact on African football, explains Jordaan.

“So FIFA will have to look at these things. Also, when there’s no new transfer window decided, it creates uncertainty because most African clubs make their revenue through the transfer of players and it means that revenue will be lost,” said the SAFA president, as quoted by Sun Sport.

“It’s the same here in South Africa, we saw the team at the bottom of the log sell their best players to get the revenue. So therefore, the transfer window is going to affect all who are in Europe and our local-based players.”

Jordaan cited Nigeria as an example of a country which will suffer because they have a huge number of players which play abroad.

He added, “And what’s happening now, is that if you look at Nigeria, they have 829 players playing outside the country. Other African countries as well have many players in Europe, especially West African countries.

“Do they come back home to Africa or they stay in Europe where the Covid-19 is causing serious havoc? We see in the news and we are updated as to what is happening and the increasing numbers daily.”