Safa keeps us guessing
ANOTHER DELAY: ANNOUNCEMENT OF BAFANA COACH ON THE BACKBURNER
Respected Queiroz favourite to take over national team hot seat.
You don’t hold the Oscars ceremony without the successful actors making an appearance – and this apparently is the reasoning Safa are employing in again delaying the announcement of the new Bafana coach in spite of having already chosen their man.
And while delivering this piece of information yesterday, Safa director of communications Dominic Chimhavi left no doubt about the fact that it must be someone from outside the country who will be bestowed with the challenging task of succeeding the sacked Shakes Mashaba and guiding Bafana through the qualifying rounds of the 2018 World Cup and 2019 Caf Africa Cup of Nations.
The strong favourite among those who claim to be “in the know” is cosmopolitan Iran and former Portugal and Bafana coach and much-respected Manchester United assistant coach Carlos Queiroz, with Frenchman Herve Renard, who has guided both Zambia and the Ivory Coast to the prized Afcon title as a banker if there are any late financial hiccups regarding the No 1 man.
The suave and articulate Queiroz has a long-standing international reputation and not only guided Iran into a place in the 2014 World Cup, but shaped his underdog combination into a force to be reckoned with in Brazil.
Queiroz, however, has in the last couple of months declared he is not satisfied with the way Iran are preparing for the 2018 World Cup – despite them being wellplaced to qualify for the event in Russia – and he will not be renewing his contract.
His daughter and grandchildren are settled in South Africa and he guided Bafana through the qualifying rounds of the 2002 World Cup before falling foul of a misguided conspiracy that resulted in him not ultimately taking Bafana to the event in Japan and South Korea.
He also has a cordial relationship with Safa president Danny Jordaan.
Chimhavi confirmed that the new Bafana coach would be unveiled once he set foot at Safa’s headquarters in Johannesburg.
“It could be any time,” he added, “possibly early next week, maybe a little longer. But not much longer.
“Bafana are due to play warmup games against Angola and Guinea-Bissau before the end of the month,” said Chimhavi, “and the new coach must be well-entrenched before these matches are staged”.
Ironically, almost simultaneously with the announcement of the new coach, Mashaba will be attempting at a CCMA arbitration hearing on Tuesday to be reinstated as the Bafana coach – or alternatively be awarded a hefty settlement of several million rand.