Johannesburg – Days aft er taking over as the Bafana Bafana coach, Hugo Broos is having his first squabble with South African Football Association (Safa) bosses.
Broos is clashing with Safa officials regarding his preferred choice for a South African assistant coach.
On Friday, Broos revealed on SAfm that former Bafana coach Molefi Ntseki would make his return to the national team as his assistant.
Safa is having none of that and wants SA Under-23 coach David Notoane to become Broos’ second assistant instead.
Last week, upon arrival in the country, Broos announced Cedomir Janevski of Macedonia as his first assistant.
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Well-placed insiders have revealed that it is highly unlikely that Ntseki would be brought back into the fray.
“Bringing Ntseki back would leave Safa with egg on their faces after they fired him for failing to take Bafana to the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations final. Safa and Ntseki have just had a payout settlement and bringing him back would feel like they do not know what they are doing. The public is also up in arms regarding Ntseki coming back,” said the source.
Safa released a statement rubbishing Broos’ comments.
“Contrary to widespread news, Safa would like to clarify to all football fans that the association has not appointed any local assistant coach for Bafana Bafana. The name making headlines is not the association’s position. The Safa national executive committee will appoint a local assistant coach soon.”
Ntseki’s business representative Thato Matuka said after Broos met Ntseki twice this past week, he requested him to become his second assistant.
“They met twice last week and they agreed on the technical aspect. The only thing that was left was the admin side of things,” said Matuka.
It seems there is a lack of communication between the new coach and the national association.
Safa has been dilly-dallying regarding the issue of the announcement, or appointment of Broos’ South African assistant.
Safa president Danny Jordaan is in Kigali, Rwanda, attending a Confederation of African Football executive committee meeting.
Ntseki worked as assistant to former coach Stuart Baxter before he was promoted to be in charge of the senior national team.
He was sacked after Bafana’s 2-0 loss to Sudan, which resulted in SA missing out on the next Afcon to be staged in Cameroon in January 2022.
Safa CEO Tebogo Motlanthe was not available for comment as his phone rang unanswered.
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