World Athletics Gives Athletics South Africa 6 Months to Remove James Moloi or Face Ban
- World Athletics sent a formal letter to Athletics South Africa demanding the removal of suspended president James Moloi without delay
- A disciplinary panel chaired by retired Judge Basheer Waglay found Moloi guilty of two charges linked to the misuse of ASA funds
- Athletics South Africa has six months to overhaul its constitution or risk provisional suspension of its international membership
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World Athletics has issued Athletics South Africa (ASA) a six-month ultimatum to remove its suspended president, James Moloi, and undertake a full constitutional overhaul, warning that non-compliance will result in provisional suspension from international competition.
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The directive arrived in a three-page letter sent from Monaco on 15 October, following a fact-finding mission to South Africa conducted on 2 and 3 September 2026 by Zakhele Dlamini, President of the Southern African Confederation of Athletics (SACA) and Vice-President of the Confederation of African Athletics (CAA). The mission was requested jointly by the CAA and World Athletics.
Moloi found guilty by independent panel
Moloi had been suspended by the ASA board in October 2025 after a forensic audit by Forvis Mazars uncovered alleged financial misconduct. The investigation found that an ASA corporate credit card was used nearly 400 times between May 2023 and April 2024, exceeding authorised spending limits and accumulating more than R300,000 in unauthorised or personal expenditure.
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World Athletics stated it expects ASA to respect the panel's verdict and enforce Moloi's removal "without delay."
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Reform roadmap imposed on ASA
Beyond Moloi's removal, Dlamini's report flagged deeper structural problems within ASA, including executive board divisions, compromised collective decision-making, unclear authority among elected officials, and voting conflicts of interest arising from officials holding both national and provincial roles simultaneously.
In response, World Athletics and the CAA have set out a strict governance roadmap. ASA's revised constitution must ensure the ASA Council functions as the supreme decision-making body, eliminate double-voting and provincial conflicts, establish independent electoral and oversight mechanisms, and introduce term limits alongside provisions for gender and athlete representation.
World Athletics made clear that failure to meet the six-month deadline, or any deliberate attempt to obstruct the process, will trigger a referral to the World Athletics Council for consideration of sanctions under Article 13 of its rules, which includes provisional suspension of ASA's international membership.
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Source: Briefly News
