Match fixing talks called off

Johannesburg - Talks on soccer match fixing between Sport Minister Fikile Mbalula, SAFA, and football body FIFA have been called off.

This was confirmed by the SA Football Association (SAFA) on Wednesday, just hours after it stated that SAFA president Kirsten Nematandani was due to board a flight to Zurich, Switzerland, in the evening.

He and Mbalula were to meet FIFA secretary-general Jerome Valcke.

"The meeting between FIFA, SAFA and the Minister of Sport and Recreation SA has been called off," SAFA said in a statement.

"The respective offices of the stakeholders are still coordinating the agenda."

SAFA said further information would be provided in due course.

"The meeting of the three parties, called by FIFA, is to make sure everyone has the same level of information and find a common perceptive on the way forward," SAFA had said in an earlier statement.

Five SAFA officials - Nematandani, acting chief executive Dennis Mumble, Ace Kika, Barney Kujane, and Adele Carelse - were suspended in December after they were implicated in a FIFA probe into corruption revolving around Bafana Bafana's warm-up games ahead of the 2010 World Cup.

The SAFA national executive committee (NEC) later reversed the decision and reinstated the senior staffers in January, following a meeting with Mbalula.

The SA Sports Confederation and Olympic Committee (SASCOC) said last month SAFA would face an independent inquiry.

SAFA appointed a committee to set up an inquiry, and while Mbalula told French news agency AFP at the weekend he wanted an independent inquiry headed by a retired judge, FIFA was opposed to government interference.

Mbalula said: "SAFA approached us saying it wanted a judicial commission of inquiry. Now some mischievous people wrote to FIFA saying we are interfering. SAFA cannot be player and referee."