FIFA announced that three more former South African FA officials "have been banned from the sport in connection with international friendlies played by the national side" in '10, according to Brian Homewood of REUTERS. Former SAFA CEO Leslie Sedibe was "banned for five years" and fined 20,000 Swiss francs ($20,250) by FIFA's Ethics Committee. Steve Goddard and Adeel Carelse, both former heads of SAFA's refereeing department, "were each banned for two years." The cases were linked to that of former SAFA exec member and Head of Referees Lindile Kika, "who was banned for six years by FIFA last October." FIFA said that Sedibe, Goddard and Carelse had "all infringed ethics rules concerning general rules of conduct, loyalty and disclosure, cooperation and reporting" (REUTERS, 3/14). The BBC reported all bans "come into force immediately," and SAFA said that "it welcomed the sanctions." SAFA Ethics Committee Chair Poobalan Govindasamy said, "We are glad this matter has ultimately reached this stage since SAFA reported the matter to FIFA almost four years ago. It had dragged on too long for our liking and was starting to have an impact on us as an association and our valued stakeholders" (BBC, 3/14).
