Bafana coach in Safa’s sights

BUOYED by the Labour Court’s decision to throw out an application by former Bafana Bafana coach Shakes Mashaba to block them from appointing his successor, SA Football Association (Safa) chief executive Dennis Mumble yesterday said that the search committee was days away from announcing the candidate for the vacant national team post.

Mumble had to hurriedly field questions from reporters at Safa House in Nasrec after Fifa president Gianni Infantino, who is attending a summit in Johannesburg, snubbed the media for interview requests.

It was minutes after the Labour Court had madeits ruling on Mashaba’s attempt to stop Safa from replacing him.

“I don’t want to be emotional about this whole thing. I think it is a very difficult process for the coach and for the association,” Mumble said.

“We have to respect what the courts said. He (Mashaba) is one of the great coaches to have ever worked for Safa and has had more than one stint, and I don’t think we are here to make enemies.

“And it is not our intention to make an enemy here because he remains a valuable member of SA football, and that is how we will treat him.”

The Labour Court outcome has no bearing on the arbitration hearing that will decide Mashaba’s fate once and for all on March 7, 8 and 9.

Mumble confirmed that the search panel, which includes Lucas Radebe, Neil Tovey, Farouk Khan and Benni McCarthy, had narrowed down the list of candidates from 61 to just five, but Safa had not yet made contact with these hopefuls. It is believed that current Morocco coach Herve Renard and his Iran counterpart Carlos Queiroz are front-runners for the national team job, with Hugo Broos, the man who won the Africa Cup of Nations with Cameroon earlier this month, also in with a chance.

“My task in the next couple of games is to articulate the terms to the candidates we have identified,” Mumble said.

“We work on a four-year cycle and we want the coach to prepare us, as well as take us to the 2018 World Cup.

“I can’t reveal the names as yet because some of the candidates are contracted elsewhere, but they have obviously indicated they are interested in the Bafana job.”