The South African Football Association (SAFA) has said that it has not finally given the job of coaching the National football team, Bafana Bafana, to the current head coach of Nigeria’s Supper Eagles, Stephen Keshi.
A report on a Nigerian website had last week, said that Keshi has been appointed the head coach of the South African national team.
In a statement today, the Association said that Keshi is one of the 14 candidates that head a short-list for the vacant Bafana head coach position.
It said that a Portuguese-born Carlos Queiroz, who will be leaving his post as manager of the Iranian national team after the World Cup, is the frontrunner to return to the Bafana helm, adding that it is yet to decide who their preferred candidate will be.
“That article, which is attributed to a source, is devoid of any truth as SAFA will only make the decision on the appointment of the new coach in mid-July,” the Association’s President, Danny Jordaan stated on the association’s official website.
“Keshi’s name is among various names that have been thrown around by the media. Safa has not yet arrived at any decision regarding the appointment of the new senior men’s national team coach. That decision will be pronounced once the World Cup is over,” Jordaan concluded.
Others that are in the running to succeed Gordon Igesund, include Dutch duo Dick Advocaat and Patrick Kluivert, Shakes Mashaba and Frenchman Herve Renard, to mention just a few.
Whoever replaces Igesund, though, will be the 18th man to take charge of Bafana Bafana since 1992. [myad]
