Danny Jordaan

Daniel Alexander "Danny" Jordaan (born 3 September 1951) is the president of the South African Football Association (SAFA).^[1] He is a former lecturer, politician and anti-apartheid activist. He led South Africa's successful 2010 FIFA World Cup bid, the first successful one for Africa, as well as the country's unsuccessful bid four years earlier for the 2006 FIFA World Cup, and was the Chief Executive Officer of the 2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa.^[2] He is also the former Mayor of the Nelson Mandela Bay Metropolitan Municipality, having served from May 2015 until August 2016.

He has served FIFA in numerous capacities, including, as a General Co-ordinator for the Youth World Cup (now FIFA U-20 World Cup), 2001 FIFA Confederations Cup and the 2002 FIFA World Cup in Korea/Japan. He was also a match commissioner for the 2006 FIFA World Cup and a member of the 2006 FIFA World Cup Organising Committee. He served on the 2010 FIFA World Cup Organising Committee and 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup Organising Committee.

Jordaan is also a member of the International Marketing Council.^[3]

Career

Danny Jordaan was born in Port Elizabeth, a city on the southeast coast of South Africa to Maxine and Alexandre Jordaan. He became involved in anti-apartheid activities by joining the South African Students' Organisation (SASO) in the early 1970s, an organisation founded by Steve Biko in order to defend the rights of black students. Later, Jordaan also became a member of the United Democratic Front and the African National Congress (ANC).^[4]

Following his studies, Jordaan became a teacher in 1974. From 1970 to 1983 he was a provincial cricket and football player. In the latter sport, he achieved professional status for a brief period. His political and sport interests soon combined and he became an activist in various organizations fighting to break down racial barriers in sport.^[5]

From 1983 to 1992 he served as the president or vice-president of various football boards. In 1993 he was appointed as a director of the Cape Town Olympic Bid Company.^[5][6]

His political career also progressed; in 1990 he was elected as the chairperson of the ANC branch in Port Elizabeth North. After the first fully inclusive South African elections in 1994, he became a member of parliament for the ANC under the newly elected Nelson Mandela, a position he held until 1997.^[5]

In 1997, he was elected as the Chief Executive Officer of SAFA. He subsequently headed South Africa's unsuccessful 2006 FIFA World Cup bid, narrowly losing to Germany but gaining great respect internationally for his work. As a consequence, he also led South Africa's 2010 FIFA World Cup bid, this time successfully.^[3]

Jordaan has served on the marketing and television board of FIFA since 1998.^[7]

On 28 September 2013, Jordaan was elected as the new president of South African Football Association (SAFA), succeeding Kirsten Nematandani.^[3] He was elected ahead of Mandla Mazibuko by 162 to 88 votes from 52 regions.^[8]

In light of the 2015 FIFA corruption case, Jordaan admitted to paying $10 Million to a football body led by Jack Warner in 2008, but denied that it was a bribe for hosting the 2010 FIFA World Cup.^[9]

Education

Jordaan has a BA degree from the University of the Western Cape and an honours degree from the University of South Africa.

He has received four honorary doctorates from: Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University (D.Phil); the University of South Africa (D. Admin); his alma mater, the University of the Western Cape (D. Phil); and in May 2015 from the University of Fort Hare (D. Admin).^[10]

Awards

He received a special presidential award from President Nelson Mandela in 1994 as well as the presidential sport achievement award from President Thabo Mbeki in 2001. He won South Africa’s marketing person of the year award in 2000. In 2004, he was voted 44th in the Top 100 Great South Africans and newsmaker of the year. He received a mayoral award from the mayor of Los Angeles, California on 24 October 2004. That same year, he won the Confederation of African Football's "most impressive Achiever" alongside Molefi Oliphant and Irvin Khosa.^[11] Jordaan has been given the freedom of the city of Maracaibo, Venezuela. He has also received numerous awards from other South African cities.^[12]

References