The country’s organised crime investigation unit, Hawks, has been looking into claims of fraud and theft at Safa between 2014 and 2018 amounting to 1.3m rand ($72,000, £57,000).

In March, Hawks raided Safa offices in Johannesburg, confiscating a laptop, USBs, external hard drives and documents.

Jordaan is alleged to have hired a private security company for his personal protection and a public relations company without authorisation from the Safa board.

The 73-year-old, who was a key figure in bringing the 2010 Fifa World Cup to South Africa and has been Safa president since 2013, is awaiting the outcome of an appearance at the Palm Ridge Magistrates court in Johannesburg on Wednesday.

Safa’s chief financial officer Gronie Hluyo and businessman Trevor Neethling appeared alongside Jordaan, having also been arrested in connection with the case.

Jordaan reportedly filed a court application on Tuesday, with an affidavit denying any wrongdoing, in an attempt to block his arrest by Hawks.

A Safa official told BBC Sport Africa he did not have further details about the case.

Jordaan has faced growing scrutiny amid ongoing allegations of mismanagement and corruption within South African football – but has maintained his innocence and is reportedly seeking a fourth term as Safa president.

Critics of Jordaan have called on him to resign, pointing to the failure of the men’s national team to qualify for a World Cup since 2010 as well as the country’s deteriorating grassroots football infrastructure.

SAFA lodged the protest after Bafana Bafana suffered a 1-0 defeat against the Black Stars in the final round of games of the 2022 World Cup qualifier in early November, accusing the referee of manipulation.

However, SAFA’s failed to prove their claims of match-fixing, hence FIFA decided to rule in favour of Ghana.

“The protest lodged by South Africa has been declared inadmissible by the Disciplinary Committee as it did not meet the requirements under art. 46 of the FIFA Disciplinary Code and art. 14 of the Regulations of the Preliminary Competition of the FIFA World Cup 2022.”

FIFA added, “the decision is subject to appeal” and opportunity for SAFA to provide the right evidence if they have any.

Reacting to the decision by FIFA, the General Secretary of the Ghana FA, Prosper Harrison Addo said SAFA knows nothing about football, adding that he believes they wanted to just frustrate Ghana.

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“The South African Football Association knows nothing in football and this case clearly shows how incompetent they are; they want to frustrate Ghana and we are focused on the Afcon and the FIFA World Cup playoff,” he told Kumasi-based Light FM.

“The GFA and Ghanaians will be happy about this FIFA ruling against the South Africans and I believe this decision will silence them because they disrespected us and this decision will let them respect Ghanaians,” he added.

Ghana booked a place in the playoffs following an Andre Ayew lone strike in the first half.

The Black Stars are seeking to return to the Mundial having missed out on the last edition in Russia in 2018.

The draw for the playoffs has been scheduled for January 2022.

Ghana beat Bafana Bafana 1-0 on Sunday in the crucial qualifier – a result which saw the Black Stars advance to Africa’s play-offs for the tournament at the expense of the South Africans on goals scored.

Safa lodged a complaint with Fifa about the match and the world governing body, in a letter dated 17 November, said the protest will be submitted to a member of its disciplinary committee on 23 November for consideration.

South Africa’s protest included allegations of “match-fixing, match manipulation including corruption and bribery”, which Jordaan claimed may be linked to gambling at a press conference on Wednesday.

“How is it that there’s a betting spike just before a major decision is taken and therefore people bet? They knew when to bet,” he said.

The Ghana Football Association, which has dismissed any match-fixing allegation, has been asked for its observations on the matter.

Ghana’s winning goal came from a first-half penalty when Daniel Amartey went down following what appeared minimal contact from defender Rushine de Reuck.

The Fifa disciplinary code allows protests based on “an obvious error” by a referee.

A comprehensive report on the match had been compiled by former South African referee Ace Ncobo and will be used as part of Safa’s protest with Fifa.

Ncobo said he picked up 71 major incidents from the match where he believes that the referee either turned a blind eye in favour of Ghana or made incorrect calls against the South African team.

So far, there has been no comment from anyone on the officiating team for the match, who all come from Senegal and were headed up by referee Maguette Ndiaye.

It is understood that, according to Fifa rules, Ndiaye is not permitted to comment on officiating decisions.