Stuart Baxter has quit as coach of the South African soccer team. This was confirmed on Tuesday by chief executive of the South African Football Association (Safa) Raymond Hack.
Hack confirmed that Baxter had handed in his letter of resignation on Tuesday afternoon but was tight-lipped about the contents of the letter.
”I can confirm that Stuart has resigned as the national team coach and will not be taking the squad to the African Cup of Nations next year. There was no discussion really — just that Stuart handed me his resignation. One of the things he mentioned was that he was not happy with the environment he was working under.
”It is clear that the man has his opinion and I respect that. I cannot criticise him because this is his decision,” Hack said on Tuesday afternoon after meeting with Baxter at the FNB Stadium.
Safa have moved swiftly and could possible announce a caretaker coach as early as Thursday morning after the body’s executive and technical committees meet.
”We will issue out a statement tomorrow [Wednesday] when we have concluded meetings with the technical committee,” Hack said.
However, there are no signs of panic at the Safa headquarters as speculation of Baxter’s resignation was already doing the rounds before last weekend’s Nelson Mandela Challenge match against Senegal in Port Elizabeth.
Last week Baxter confirmed that he had sent a letter to Safa detailing his concerns and suggesting the way forward for the national team — with him as coach or not.
In his letter it is believed that Baxter tendered his resignation, anticipating that Safa would come back to him with an offer of a golden handshake as his contract still has to run through to June next year.
It has also been reported that Baxter had received a job offer in Sweden.
The signs of a split between Baxter and Safa were evident even before Bafana’s 3-2 loss to the Lions of Teranga, which extended their winless streak to nine matches.
A few months ago national under-23 coach Steve Khompela relinquished his position as Baxter’s assistant, citing ongoing disagreements with the Englishman. Baxter also failed to see Bafana Bafana qualify for next year’s World Cup in Germany.
Before the final African Cup of Nations qualifier against the DRC in Durban, Baxter is alleged to have sent a letter to his bosses demanding the sacking of national team manager Stanley ”Screamer” Tshabalala and director of national teams Barney Kujane. – Sapa