JOHANNESBURG - Danny Jordaan, the president of the SA Football Association (Safa), revealed on Saturday afternoon that the organisation will announce a search committee for the vacant Bafana Bafana job as early as Tuesday, and hope to appoint a new coach by the end of the month.
Friendly matches against Angola away and Guinea-Bissau at home have already been confirmed and will be played late in March.
Jordaan was speaking shortly after the Safa’s NEC meeting in Johannesburg, where the senior women’s national team post was also discussed and the criteria was laid out.
Bafana have been without a coach since the sacking of Shakes Mashaba in December for gross misconduct, insubordination and violating the Safa communication policy.
Mashaba is still fighting his dismissal through his lawyers and his case is currently at the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration. But it is clear his former employers remain confident that they have a watertight case and are going ahead with looking for his replacement.
“We have two dates in March to play friendly matches in preparation for Bafana’s 2018 World Cup qualifier against Cape Verde in August and the start of the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations with an away game against Nigeria in July,” said Jordaan.
“By the time we have the name, we must have ticked all the boxes. If the coach is not available they are not available. The coach must sign and immediately go to work, but we have not approached any candidates whatsoever. We first need to look at the criteria that we have laid out and then find the perfect candidate.”
Several names have been linked to the vacant post, with Pitso Mosimane (Mamelodi Sundowns), Carlos Queiroz (Iran, even though he has tendered a resignation), Herve Renard (Morocco) and even Gavin Hunt (Wits) rumoured to be courted for the job.
“The NEC has made a decision that we are not going to advertise the job but rather headhunt a coach. We received several CVs all over the world, which were unsolicited,” Jordaan explained.
“There are also names which I cannot reveal because some of those coaches are still contracted to national teams or clubs. That is why we also need to look at availability.
“We want someone who will take us to the Nations Cup and the World Cup, that is why we are looking at the experience at national team level as well, not just club level. We need someone who has qualified in the past.”
Safa chief executive Dennis Mumble told reporters that over 35 coaches have expressed an interest in the Bafana job, among them former Manchester City and Inter Milan manager Roberto Mancini and former Real Madrid coach Bernd Schuster.
Renard and Queiroz are apparently hot favourites for the job, but the former is still tied to the Morocco national team despite crashing out of this year’s Africa Cup of Nations in the quarter-finals following defeat to Egypt.
Renard, a two-times Nations Cup winner with Zambia and Ivory Coast, is contracted until the end of the 2018 World Cup qualifiers.
@superjourno