Igesund to stay, says Safa head
GORDON Igesund will stay on as Bafana Bafana coach, Safa president Kirsten Nematandani said yesterday.
Speculation over Igesund’s future reached fever pitch following Bafana’s failure to qualify for the World Cup after they lost 2-1 to Ethiopia away at the weekend.
But as the team returned to South Africa yesterday, Nematandani reiterated his support for Igesund despite the coach’s failure to meet his mandate to qualify the national team for Brazil 2014.
“Yes, we have clearly set out certain requirements for the coach to go through,” he said.
“And, yes, I did indicate that under normal circumstances any coach gets employed for a four-year term in terms of the World Cup.
“But Igesund jumped in at the last minute as we did not have a coach.
“He is the best coach we have and surely, if we want to make progress, this is the coach. We have to take the process forward. The coach should walk tall. The result might have disappointed, but the performance did not.
“Luck was not on our side. We are proud of the boys,” the Safa boss said.
Igesund’s side, however, could still qualify if the reported Fifa probe into allegations that Ethiopia fielded an ineligible player in a previous Group A qualifier yields positive results for South Africa.
“We heard about the probe before we left Ethiopia,” Igesund said.
“But, from our point of view, we still have one more game to play against
‘ He is the best coach we have . . . We have to take the process forward
Botswana and Ethiopia have to play the CAR. Whatever the results . . . it doesn’t affect us unless they get docked points, we win our last match and they lose or draw theirs.
“We’ll see what happens.”
Nematandani said the focus would now shift to the upcoming Cosafa Cup and Afcon 2015.
“The chief executive will be calling a meeting with the technical committee and take this process forward.
“Obviously, we had our energies behind the World Cup but we have to look forward now.
“The other games we should think of are the Mandela Challenge and the upcoming Mandela celebrations.”