Football leadership has failed School of Excellence - Riah Phiyega

Phiyega, who was at the forefront of starting this project almost three decades ago while with the state-owned freight logistics company that started and had run the academy since 1994. 

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The former South African Police Service commissioner says the School of Excellence's imminent closure could be linked to SAFA’s ineptitude, and lack of vision and passion for the project.

"The stars that we produced that played abroad, that played in this country, and I think there was such hope in the nation that there is a structured way of actually creating constructive, successful development," said Phiyega.

"I think my pain was, when we started, we were doing it on our own as Transnet, collaborating with the associations that are there, but as some point the plan had always been to hand over the school to SAFA.

"I think that was where a lot of things started going south, because our vision and passion probably was not aligned."

For years SAFA has not contributed anything financially towards the running of the school, yet, together with Transnet, have been running the School of Excellence through a trust in which both parties are represented.

"It was just one of those institutions that they inherited, and I think they didn't invest enough vision and resources, or have the passion that we had as a company to have established that [school]," she added.

"That's a project that came at the same time with the Phelophepa [Train], which is still running and is still there, and it's an initiative that is growing after we handed them over.

"The School is one of those that is just hurting because I remember we took an old Transnet building, refurbished it, reconstructed it into a school and we were doing almost everything."

SABC Sport understands that the closure of the School of Excellence is now inevitable, with parents understood to have received letters informing them that their children will not be returning to the school next year. 

This follows last year’s decision by Transnet to pull out of running the school, owing to their own financial challenges, that leaves a R20 million shortfall in the funding thereof.

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