Mashaba suspended for insulting Danny Jordaan
BELEAGUERED Bafana Bafana coach Shakes Mashaba has been suspended after disrespecting his boss‚ SA Football Association (Safa) president Danny Jordaan‚ in the full glare of television cameras in Polokwane on Saturday.
Mashaba’s assistant‚ Owen da Gama‚ will instead be on the bench when Bafana face Mozambique in a friendly international in Maputo tomorrow.
The coach‚ who has often been likened to tactless US president-elect Donald Trump‚ wagged an accusing finger at Jordaan after Bafana beat Senegal 2-1 in a crunch 2018 World Cup qualifier.
Mashaba, who is at times a public relations nightmare and a handful for the long-suffering Safa communications department, said Jordaan had not supported him when he needed it the most over the past few months.
Jordaan and Safa chief executive Dennis Mumble were astonished by the very public attack and show of disrespect, and moved swiftly to suspend the errant coach.
Mumble, in a statement sent to Safa national executive committee (NEC) members yesterday, said he had to institute disciplinary action against Mashaba following the drama after the game.
“Following some unpleasant events after the match ... at the Peter Mokaba Stadium I had to meet with head coach Ephraim Mashaba [yesterday] to commence disciplinary steps against him‚” Mumble said.
“As a result of [the] events I was forced to place the head coach on suspension with immediate effect pending a full disciplinary hearing. As has been policy in matters involving staff discipline‚ we will not respond to media inquiries.
“This is necessary to safeguard the dignity of the head coach and the association in this process.
“Coach Mashaba has, however, asked that we convey to the NEC‚ and the president of the association‚ in particular‚ his sincerest apologies if he has offended anyone and he unreservedly asked for forgiveness.”
Perhaps Mashaba gave a hint of what was to come at the post-match media conference on Saturday when he said his team’s World Cup qualifying win against Senegal was a “second lease of life”.
It was assumed, at the time, that he was referring to the media and critical fans, who have been disapproving of his regime since Bafana failed to qualify for the African Nations Cup in June next year.
But his venom was seemingly aimed at the Safa president and he had not forgotten Jordaan’s criticism after Bafana were held to a lacklustre 1-1 draw by Mauritania in a dead rubber in September.
Jordaan, in a post-match interview, had said: “This must be the end of the journey‚ not the beginning, because this cannot lead us into the 2018 World Cup qualifying campaign where we will meet the giants of the African continent.
“What we saw tonight was disappointing.
“We had a goal given to us through a penalty.
“We had numerous opportunities‚ but we cannot talk about the same things.”
Mashaba had clearly not forgotten that and he said on Saturday his last rites had been administered by Jordaan after the draw with Mauritania.
“What does this win [against Senegal] mean to me?” he said.
“It’s a second lease of life. I was dead already.”
What does this win mean to me? It’s a second lease of life. I was dead already