The search to fill one of the most important positions in SA football is becoming more difficult by the day. The position of technical director has been unoccupied since former Bafana Bafana and Kaizer Chiefs captain Neil Tovey’s contract was terminated in June 2020.
One of the country’s respected football brains, Sudesh Singh, who was in contention for the vacant position, resigned from his position as a member of the Safa technical committee last year.
Singh is a scholar of the esteemed late football professor Ted Dumitru and is a highly qualified coaching instructor, but according to deputy chairperson of the Safa technical committee, Bhudda Mathathe, Singh did not tick all the boxes.
Safa CEO Tebogo Motlanthe has had to intervene and convince Singh to reconsider his resignation.
“We’re having interviews with everybody. We want the best for the association and South African football. The technical director is the highest position after the CEO,” said Mathathe.
“Fortunately, we have requirements that we have to meet from Fifa. We asked all the questions in line with Fifa.
“It is about time we appointed qualified people in these crucial positions that talk to football development in the country. We must find a suitable candidate who can take SA to the next level.
“It’s now 26 years later and we cannot still be talking about the Class of 1996, and we can only achieve this with qualified people who can implement Safa developmental programmes to the latter as per the Safa, CAF and Fifa standards. If we go this route, it will also benefit Safa.
“The Fifa handbook stipulates that if the person ticks all the requirements, then Fifa will contribute towards his remuneration and salary, meaning that
Fifa will meet Safa halfway. This will save the association money, and it can be used for other projects of the federation.”
After the departure of Tovey, Frans Mogashoa was acting technical director and has also served as head of Safa coaching education.
Motlanthe said: “The technical committee chair Jack Maluleke has not yet given us a report, we just heard about it informally. Sudesh did not submit a formal resignation, he just gave me a call saying that he is resigning and Mr Maluleke must just give us a full report, where they would have made a recommendation.
“And if they have a credible person, in line with the requirements, only then we will be able to take the name to the national executive committee,” Motlanthe said.
Singh was not available for comment.
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