In a decision that might anger many who want Stuart Baxter out, South African Football Association (Safa) president Molefi Oliphant refused to accept a verbal offer of resignation from the national team coach three weeks ago.
By declining to accept Baxter’s resignation Oliphant averted what could have been another protracted and costly lawsuit, following the R2-million that had to be paid to Shakes Mashaba, after the previous national coach’s successful litigation against Safa.
Last month Baxter had not only volunteered to step down but also told his bosses that he will meet them in court for breach of contractual agreements and deliberately making his working conditions difficult — ”basically setting him up to fail”.
Baxter was not throwing in the towel, nor was his offer to resign motivated by a media campaign to oust him. According to those close to him, the coach was fed up with unfulfilled promises to meet his demands, some of which were for things guaranteed in his contract.
Baxter is open about the fact that Safa has constantly reneged on a contractual agreement to allow him to bring in his own technical staff, insisting that he uses locals. His relationship with these local appointees does not seem to be cordial, although it is unclear whose fault it is.
Steve Komphela, his former assistant, recently quit, citing a perceived lack of respect from Baxter. The Englishman refused to comment on the issue, saying only that Komphela’s departure was initiated and agreed upon by Safa.
Baxter is a perfectionist and he has become increasingly frustrated at Safa’s ineptitude, the latest example of which caused some players to arrive late for camp ahead of South Africa’s crucial World Cup qualification match against Burkina Faso this weekend.
Striker Shaun Bartlett’s call-up letter, for instance, states that the player should come to South Africa, for a camp in Sandton, whereas the player or his agent should have been organising a visa for Germany — where the camp was actually held.
Baxter told the Mail & Guardian that he did not know until a day before departure (last Sunday) the team’s flight details to Germany. It was only after he had called team manager Stanley Tshabalala to inquire that he was given the details. Even then, Tshabalala did not answer his phone; Baxter had to call Oliphant and it was only after the president had intervened that Tshabalala returned Baxter’s call.
Baxter has often accused Tshabalala of being ”incompetent”. The team manager’s response has always been: ”No-one is perfect.” Tshabalala was Bafana Bafana’s first coach after readmission to Fifa in 1992, and he lost four games out of six, his team conceding 13 goals in the process.
According to Safa sources, when Baxter offered to resign, Raymond Hack, the organisation’s CEO, was also present. But when contacted this week, Hack laughed, saying: ”No, I know nothing about it. Why would he resign? I find it strange. What is he doing with the national team in Germany if he resigned?”
But at the time, it is believed, Baxter felt the organisation was trying to use him as a scapegoat for the national team’s failures more especially on the issue of the serious threat that the national team may lose out to Ghana for a place in next year’s World Cup. ”Obviously he felt he had all the aces and Safa was in an untenable position,” one source noted.
Oliphant’s refusal to accept the resignation in the face of mounting pressure, especially from some of the senior members of the national executive committee, led by vice-president Irvin Khoza, might seem at first remarkably honourable.
But, it appears his hands were tied. His actions at best were motivated by the desire to placate the concerns of both sponsors and the government, who perceived Safa to be perpetually embroiled in a managerial crisis ahead of important tournaments. ”[Oliphant] did not want a repeat of what happened last time, when Shakes was kicked out before the Nations Cup,” said a Safa insider.
Baxter recently revealed the words of former coach Carlos Queiroz, also axed before a big tournamet, who advised him against taking the job. ”Carlos said to me, ‘If you can put bread on the table for your children, don’t go to South Africa. That is a movie and everybody knows the end.”’