Former South Africa captain Lucas Radebe plans to leave his homeland and return to England after failing to secure a job with the 2010 World Cup hosts.
The defender, who captained his country at the 1998 and 2002 World Cup finals, said he was going back to the city of Leeds where he spent most of his playing career.
Radebe told newspapers he was disappointed and ”tired of waiting for unreliable people” who had allegedly promised him a role in the national team set up as the South African Football Association (Safa) prepare to host the next World Cup.
”I came home after being told I had a major role to play in the build-up but nothing has come of it,” he was quoted as saying in Sunday’s City Press newspaper.
Radebe also told Monday’s Sowetan newspaper that he was quitting a ceremonial role as one of the 2010 World Cup ambassadors just over a month after being unveiled at a ceremony in Berlin on the eve of the World Cup finals in Germany.
Safa chief executive officer Raymond Hack said he was unaware of any job being offered by the organisation to Radebe.
”He was mentioned as someone who could play a role within the team, especially when it came to relating to the players, but I’m not aware he had been offered any job,” Hack told Reuters on Monday.
Radebe, who has several lucrative commercial endorsements in South Africa, has been dividing his time between Johannesburg and Leeds, where his wife and children still live.
South Africa last month appointed Brazilian Carlos Alberto Parreira as coach, although he only takes over next year.
Parreira is due to visit South Africa for a week from Friday and will watch the national team play an African Nations Cup qualifier against Congo in Johannesburg on Saturday. – Reuters