July 22 – South African football, going through a rebuilding phase under Danny Jordaan (pictured), is set to appoint a new head coach for its national team, but at club level it still has difficulty convincing everyone that country comes first.
Jordaan, who was chasing Carlos Queiroz for the national team job, has said that the post would go to a foreign national. Queiroz has just resigned a contract with Iran who he took to the World Cup in Brazil.
Local rumours now have Frank Rijkaard as a potential outsider to replace outgoing Gordon Igesund. South Africa’s U20 and U23 coach Shakes Mashaba has declared he is available for the job but it looks unlikely he will get it.
But any coach coming in will have to convince clubs that the national team is a priority and that they should release players for international training and matches.
Before the recent African Nations Championship (Chan), hosted by South Africa in January, a last-minute deal had to be struck with the Kaiser Chiefs who initially refused to release five players in advance of an upcoming league title clash with Mamelodi Sundowns.
The club vs country row has arisen again with top league club Bloemfontein Celtic failing to release U20 player Tshepo Chaine for the national junior team’s tour of West Africa to prepare for their 2015 African Youth Qualifier against Cameroon.
Chairman of the South African Football Association in the Free State region of Xhariep, Mzwandile Maforvane, said: “I would categorically state that in my opinion the Bloemfontein Celtic coach does not have the interest of our country at heart, hence he will not support any efforts that would be taken to retain the pride of our country in football.”
Bloemfontein Celtic itself is going through change with reports that Max Tsabalala has bought the club for a fee in the region of R45 million ($4.2 million). Tsabalala also owns National First Division League outfit, Roses United.
While Tsabalala is saying the deal is done, there is still paperwork to be processed and details of the new ownership plans remain under wraps.
“The agreement we signed with Celtic has a confidentiality clause, therefore it will be difficult for me to go deeper into the details until all the paperwork has been completed,” said Tsabalala. “All that I can say at the moment is that there are some documents we are waiting for from Celtic. We have to respect the process.”
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