JOHANNESBURG - Money might be a bit tight at Safa, but this will not get in the way of appointing the best candidate for the vacant Bafana Bafana post according to president Danny Jordaan.
Safa set the criteria for Shakes Mashaba’s successor at the weekend following a national executive committee in Johannesburg - but “affordability” was not part of the conditions.
The Bafana job has been vacant since Mashaba was sacked in late December for gross misconduct, insubordination and violating the Safa communication policy.
He earned R500 000 a month, a salary believed to be much lower than what his predecessors took home, which led to the infamous “cheap option” statement the coach refuted throughout his tenure.
“Is there a criteria on affordability? This must not be a question,” said Jordaan. “What we should be asking is whether we can afford not to afford it. But you don’t start talking about money first.
"We have outlined the criteria and mapped out what we want to achieve. And then you sit down with the person to finalise it. Yes, money will be available because you pursue an objective and then you make an investment.”
With two-times Africa Cup of Nations winner Herve Renard and Carlos Queiroz, a former Bafana coach from 2000 to 2002, linked to the national team job, a shortlist that includes such top quality choices means they will not come cheap. Jordaan insisted Safa will do what it takes - within reason - to get their man.
Judging by his tone and his memo as a Caf advisor during the recent Afcon held in Gabon, the Safa president could be closing the door on a possible local coach.
“I wrote three articles,” Jordaan said. “One of them was an analysis of the tournament and those teams who came with a local coach and only local players, dropped out in the first round and did not win a single match - Uganda and Zimbabwe.”
He suggested that Senegal, despite having the best players and going into the tournament as favourites, did not go all the way because they had a local coach in Aliou Cisse.
Jordaan said he will insist on the selection of South Africa’s European-based players, who were often overlooked by Mashaba as he believed they were no better than their domestic counterparts. Even when his bosses urged him to change his selection policy, Mashaba often refused to.
“We want the (new) coach to travel overseas to meet all the players. We have more than 50 players in Europe and we want everyone of them to be considered,” Jordaan explained.
“We have also spoken to Neil Tovey (Safa technical director) that if he can’t travel, he must find somebody to do it to start engaging the players. We want to clean the deck and every player must be available.”