JOHANNESBURG - SAFA CEO, Denis Mumble, hoped the association will announce the new Banyana Banyana coach before the senior national women’s football team travel to Zimbabwe for the Cosafa Women’s Championship in Zimbabwe in the coming week.
Mumble admitted that the association has taken way too long to replace former coach Vera Pauw who left almost a year ago.
However, the Safa exec stated that the delays were a result of their soon-to-be-appointed-new-coach, tying up a few lose ends with current employers regarding her contract with them.
“We’re very close,” Mumble said about the appointment. “Hopefully by next week, we’ll have something to show. We didn’t go for somebody who’s out in the streets or unemployed.
"The person we are bringing in still had commitments with their current employers and as far as I’m concerned, my part of the deal is done. The last time I spoke to this individual was last night (Wednesday), and hopefully we’ll finalise this deal soon enough.”
While he let it slip that the new coach will once gain be female, Mumble refused to divulge the length of the contract and which country the individual is from.
“My approach has always been to never make an announcement until the other party has put pen to paper,” Mumble said. “That has always been my motto. I want to say that I have my woman (for this post), but that sounds a bit too much. Let me just say that we, as the association, have our woman."
"Banyana Banyana has never disappointed us" Dr Danny Jordaan pic.twitter.com/hW2uHGZUsR
— Official SasolLeague (@SasolLeague) September 7, 2017
Meanwhile, Safa extended their contract with Sasol as Banyana’ and the Sasol League’s official sponsor for another four years and Mumble said that the National Women’s Football League, which they are hoping to have up and running by 2019, will go a long way in benefiting the senior national team when it comes to international competitions.
“We have a task team meeting in the coming week with the group that is responsible for ensuring that this league kicks off by 2019,” Mumble said. “We have done a bit of work with regards to approaching a few potential sponsors to get this league up and running in time. I can’t divulge more on that matter though.
"However, what I can tell you now is that we are planning to have at least a 12-team league, with Mamelodi Sundowns and Bloemfontein Celtic, sides which already have women teams, sure to help get this project off the ground.
“It will take a bit of time because teams still need to be informed of the logistics so that it’s a sustainable project and not just a once of thing,” Mumble added. “We still need to keep in touch with the corporate community and hopefully the government will jump in to assist as well."