By Sy Lerman
South African Football Association (Safa) CEO Raymond Hack has "set the record straight" over what he termed "incorrect, distorted and misleading reports" regarding the "hot potato" post of Bafana Bafana coach.
The trouble for a increasingly disillusioned South African soccer public is that the so-called "incorrect, distorted and misleading reports" are attributed to Safa president Molefi Oliphant, who initially confirmed his comments - and then seemed to back down and retract.
"In the first instance, the president is supposed to have stated that Ted Dumitru, the interim Bafana coach during the African Cup of Nations tournament, would remain in this position until a new coach is appointed," said Hack from Egypt on Monday.
"The truth of the matter is that Dumitru's contract as Bafana coach ended with the team's elimination from the African Cup of Nations.
"It is within Dumitru's right to apply for the position of new Bafana coach - just as anyone else has this right, but at this time he is no more the Bafana coach than any other aspirant for the position," said the Safa CEO.
Hack said Oliphant's comments regarding Dumitru and the new Bafana coach had been "taken out of context".
"The point the president was at pains to emphasise is that while Safa's intention is to appoint the best available candidate as Bafana coach - hopefully to fill the position until the completion of the 2010 World Cup - there was no reason it could not be a South African if he was deemed the most suitable candidate.
"This is a far cry from Oliphant saying a South African would be the next Bafana Bafana coach," said Hack on Monday.
"The president pointed out half the coaches at the African Cup of Nations were from Africa, but again this in no way suggests the Bafana Bafana coach will be from South Africa."
But Hack, a prominent attorney, sounded increasingly like a laywer defending a client while trying to get the Safa president out of hot water.