Businessman Patrice Motsepe has firmly rejected speculation that he might serve on the board of the new South African Football Association (Safa) commercial wing. The independent body, once it is up and running, will be run by businesspeople, the Premier Soccer League and Safa officials.
Controversial football strongman Irvin Khoza, sidelined from direct involvement in the 2010 World Cup, is attempting to muscle his way into the action via the commercial company that will look after Bafana Bafana. The 2010 local organising committee is headed by Danny Jordaan, at the behest of world football’s governing body, Fifa.
Diplomatic relations among South Africa, Brazil and India (a grouping known as Ibsa) could settle what is developing into a fierce battle for the Bafana Bafana coaching job. The shortlist is down to three candidates: Carlos Parreira, Luiz Felipe Scolari and Frank Rijkaard.
The government, sponsors and the World Cup local organising committee (LOC) are willing to pay the salary of a top foreign coach to ensure South Africa does well when it hosts the 2010 showpiece. A senior official at the South African Football Association (Safa), who did not want to be named, said the LOC and the government wanted to have a big say in the rebuilding of Bafana Bafana.
The 17-year-old who has applied for the post of Bafana Bafana boss is surely just mocking the South African Football Association (Safa), but his name appears alongside some big names in world football on Safa’s list of 43 formal applicants. Ruud Gullit, the former Dutch international who won the FA Cup with Chelsea in 1997, had informal talks with Safa a few years ago and has always shown interest in this highly desirable but controversial position.
A revolutionary restructuring of football is being touted, which could see ”a government representative and a well-respected businessman” being appointed to a new body that would run the affairs of the country’s national teams, the head of the South African Football Association’s technical committee, Sturu Pasiya, told the Mail & Guardian this week.
South African Football Association president Molefi Oliphant is facing the sternest test to his leadership yet. A group of national executive committee (NEC) members that ascended into the soccer body’s hierarchy in October last year openly challenged national office appointments and decision-making processes this week.
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/ 24 February 2006
South African football is likely to introduce a cricket-style selection committee to help with the choosing of players for the national team. This is one of the key recommendations in a report to be tabled when the South African Football Association national executive meets to map the way forward for the dysfunctional Bafana Bafana.
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/ 17 February 2006
Benni McCarthy would have been excluded from the African Nations Cup Bafana Bafana squad had coach Ted Dumitru known the star striker had not signed a remuneration agreement. The Mail & Guardian has obtained a copy of Dumitru’s technical report on the disastrous campaign in Egypt, in which the coach presents a litany of accusations and excuses for his side’s performance.
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/ 3 February 2006
The South African Football Association (Safa) website lists the date of birth of its technical committee chairperson, Sturu Pasiya, as January 26 2006 — the same day that Bafana Bafana were beaten 2-0 by Tunisia in the African Nations Cup in Egypt. The website listing is a glitch, but the impression remains that Safa is peopled by some babes in the woods.