Despite repeated denials by South African Football Association (Safa) CEO Raymond Hack that World Cup 2010 head Danny Jordaan had anything to do with the appointment of Carlos Alberto Parreira as national coach, Jomo Sono has continued to attack Jordaan, accusing him of having imposed his will on the selection panel.
The issue is broader than whether Sono’s accusations are correct. What the fracas reveals is the Cosmos boss’s complete lack of respect for the technical committee that made the decision and his undermining of the national association.
Sono was interviewed for the position and seemed to be of the opinion that his technical expertise was above that of the committee and thus the job was his.
It needs to be pointed that from the very start of the process of finding a coach, Safa had been clear that it wanted a top coach with a proven international record. What this meant was that no local stood a chance.
However, this week on radio Sono repeated his claims, referring to the technical committee members as ”puppets with no powers”.
Safa has not been forthcoming on the matter, declining to take on Sono about his malicious public utterances and leaving Jordaan to defend himself. However, a high-ranking Safa official says members of the organisation’s national executive wonder, in private, what Sono’s motives might be.
What Safa should be telling the public is that it was only after senior executives realised that technical committee chairman Sturu Pasiya was not making any headway in approaching the top foreign choices that Jordaan was asked to use his international influence to talk directly to the targets.
The fact that Safa expected Pasiya to talk directly to people who hardly knew him was unfair and foolish.
Jordaan entered the fray when Safa realised it was running out of time to find a coach. During the week of July 14, when the Safa national executive committee (NEC) was due to meet to decide on a coach, Jordaan was scheduled to meet African colleagues to discuss ways in which the 2010 World Cup could be a continent-wide event.
Jordaan was asked to contact Portugal coach Luis Felipe Scolari to see if he was keen to take over Bafana Bafana. Scolari’s response was that he would be available only in 2008, after the European Championships. It is unclear why Safa had suddenly done an about turn on its initial target, Parreira. What is clear is that when Scolari declined, the association reverted to the first-choice candidate, who coached Brazil in this year’s World Cup.
Safa was not prepared to take chances by sending Pasiya alone to Brazil to discuss the final details with Parreira, given the initial struggles the technical committee head had had in getting a convincing reply.
Jordaan was asked to abandon his travels and accompany Pasiya. The 2010 chief was reluctant, says an NEC member, fearing ”he would be seen to be the one bringing in Parreira”.
Jordaan insisted that Safa gave him letters explicitly detailing his role. ”He did this to cover himself in case someone accused him of interfering with the selection of the national coach,” said the NEC source.