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Johannesburg - The South African Sports Confederation and Olympic Committee (SASCOC) distanced itself on Thursday from a blunder that saw the national men's and women's soccer teams excluded from the draw for the All Africa Games in Maputo, Mozambique in September.
"It's really a simple matter. We don't get involved in the qualifying of teams or athletes," SASCOC CEO Tubby Reddy said in a statement.
"In the case of football, the Confederation of African Football (CAF) would have communicated with the South African Football Association (SAFA) in relation to the qualifying process, as with other team sports like volleyball or basketball."
Reddy said the blame lay squarely on the shoulders of SAFA after the federation missed the registration deadline.
The draw was held on Monday and the first round of qualification matches for the quadrennial games start on January 7.
"It's purely a matter between CAF and the national federation and that national federation must give an indication if they want to compete," Reddy said.
"The process is that there is an intention-to-compete form, a sort of entry-by-number form that we at SASCOC submitted to the organising committee in Maputo.
"After the qualifying process, CAF would inform SAFA that they have qualified, and then inform the organising committee that these are the teams who have qualified."
Reddy said SAFA president Kirsten Nematandani needed to explain the country's absence from the draw.
"I must advise the president of Safa that the entire qualification process falls solely under his jurisdiction," he said.
"Should they qualify and also satisfy SASCOC's own selection policy, then we take it a step further and say whether we're sending a team or not.
"The delivery of the teams to the games is the responsibility of Sascoc, not the qualifying process. As such, this matter is out of our hands."
