New Bafana coach to be revealed
CHIMHAVI: SAFA LEFT WITH ONLY ONE OR TWO
Meanwhile, Mashaba still fights to stay on.
The new Bafana Bafana head coach is set to be named this week, with the South African Football Association yesterday busy finalising their decision on who will take over.
Safa president Danny Jordaan had said he hoped to announce a new coach by the end of this month, which is, of course, today.
“The process is almost complete, it could be announced anytime this week or sometime next week,” Safa Head of Communications Dominic Chimhavi told Phakaaathi yesterday, though he later tweeted “Safa to name @BafanaBafana coach this week.”
Safa said last week that they had narrowed the shortlist down to five people, and Chimhavi said yesterday that “I am not in the meeting, but I understand they are left with only one or two.”
The five names left on the list have been reported to be Herve Renard, who has won the Africa Cup of Nations with both Zambia and Ivory Coast, Hugo Broos, who won this year’s Cup of Nations with Cameroon, former Bafana coaches Carlos Queiroz and Stuart Baxter, as well as former England coach Roy Hodgson.
Safa assembled an 11-person committee to decide on a new coach, including former players Lucas Radebe and Benni McCarthy. McCarthy was not at yesterday’s meeting, but Chimhavi said he has “been part of the process”.
Safa are set to name their new man just a week or so before former coach Shakes Mashaba is having his case heard at the CCMA for unfair dismissal. Mashaba’s hearing at the CCMA has been scheduled for March 7, 8 and 9. He is still seeking reinstatement.
The first task facing the new coach will be friendlies against Guinea-Bissau and Angola at the end of March. There is then the more serious business of the start of the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers in June. Bafana are set to play their first qualifier in Nigeria on June 13. The rest of the Afcon 2019 qualifiers, with Libya and the Seychelles also in Bafana’s group, will only be played next year.
Prior to that, Bafana will complete their 2018 Fifa World Cup qualifiers. They start with home-and-away games against Cape Verde in late August and early September. They will then face Burkina Faso at home at the start of October before their final qualifier in Senegal in November. They have four points from their opening two qualifying matches.