SAFA CEO Dennis Mumble explained the new registration system that will be in place for South African football.
“The centralised players registration system is one of the cornerstones of this new approach. For the past two decades we have been saying that we need a unified database to enable identification, tracking and maintaining a historical archive of players’ development,” said Mumble. “This is now possible”, he continued.
Dhirshan Gobind wrote on SAFA's website about how the system will stop players from cheating.
"Obvious benefits of embracing such a system include the prevention of age cheating (doctoring of ID’s) as well as restricting players from registering in multiple leagues and playing for different teams – issues which have plagued football development in South Africa for a long while. Having a single registration system will help eliminate cross-registration and player identity fraud at all levels of the game and also allow for tailor-made training programmes. The prevention of incorrect paperwork, particularly in rural areas is also a positive of the system. The software is also linked to the Home Affairs data-base to track players via ID numbers, which adds that much more credibility to the system.
"MYSAFA will also assist the body to track players ‘on the ground’ across divisions and all age groups, improving SAFA’s ability to identify and nurture talent much earlier, as well as be able to pinpoint exactly where the player comes from. This will also help the body to act accordingly with resources, coaching, soccer kits, equipment, finances and general assistance in such areas. This project is also designed to increase the visibility of schools football and encourage participation while at the same time cutting many costs as well," wrote Gobind.