President Jacob Zuma has told warring soccer authorities to settle their differences without government interference.

Safa and the PSL were recently summoned to Mahlamba Ndlopfu where Zuma warned them that seeking his intervention puts South Africa at risk of being banned by Fifa, who take a dim view of government interference in sovereign football matters.

This was after Irvin Khoza had approached Zuma to express the PSL's concerns about Safa's decision to amend their constitution.

The amendment was seen as an attempt by Safa to minimise the powerful Khoza's influence on the mother body.

Khoza is the vice-president of Safa by virtue of being the chairman of the PSL.

In June, the Safa general council endorsed a constitutional amendment which states: "There shall be a vice-president who shall be the chairperson of the league. The chairperson of the league shall not hold any other executive office within the association."

The PSL is also challenging the legitimacy of the Safa elections in September 2009 which ushered in a new administration under Kirsten Nematandani.

But a Zuma aide says the government wants to see the soccer authorities resolving the standoff by themselves.

"The president is against doing anything that Fifa will view as government interference and lead them to ban the country from international football.

"We have been there before because of apartheid. South Africa cannot risk the embarrassment of being banned now, especially after successfully hosting the best World Cup in the history of the competition.

"He was clear in telling them there was no reason why they could not put the interest of South Africa ahead of everything. During the World Cup soccer officials showed that they can work in harmony."

The Sunday Times has established that the matter has now been assigned to deputy president Kgalema Motlanthe's office.

Motlanthe met Safa and PSL leaders last weekend and encouraged them to cooperate.

But the uneasy truce is hanging by a thread and a senior member of Safa's national executive said Khoza is "playing dirty tricks" by approaching Zuma.

"Football officials around the world know Fifa's level of intolerance for government interference in football issues," the executive member said.

"They can come straight to us. We know that the PSL are raising concerns over the constitutional amendment and that we hear that there's a letter they have sent to the president questioning the legitimacy of the elections."

Nematandani declined to comment on the meeting with Zuma.