Safa announce new Bafana coach
The South African Football Association announced on Saturday that Molefi Ntseki will be the interim coach of Bafana Bafana, following the resignation of head coach Stuart Baxter on Friday.
Molefi Ntseki. Pic: Muzi Ntombela/BackpagePix.
Baxter decided to step down despite guiding Bafana to the quarterfinals of the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations, where Ntseki was his assistant. Safa, whose technical committee met in Johannesburg on Saturday, added in a statement that they would appoint a task team, who will decide on the next permanent
“Following the SAFA Technical Committee meeting earlier today (Saturday, 3 August 2019), the South African Football Association (SAFA) is pleased to follow through on the recommendation from the Technical Committee, and has appointed Molefi Ntseki as Interim Coach of the Men’s Senior National Team, Bafana Bafana with immediate effect,” read the statement on the Safa website.
“Given that Ntseki has been with Bafana Bafana for quite a while now, it was felt that in the interest of continuity, and given the upcoming fixtures in September, Ntseki is best placed to follow through with the foundation that has been laid by Coach Baxter, who resigned on Friday, 2 August 2019.
“Ntseki, the current u17 Head Coach, is an entrenched student of SAFA’s Vision 2022, having involvement with all the national teams as well over the past few years, from the u20 men as well as Banyana Banyana and u17 women teams.
“Regarding a permanent replacement, the SAFA Technical Committee has resolved to appoint a task team, whose names will be released during the course of the week, to consider a new head coach for Bafana Bafana.
“While it’s our intention to use our best endeavours to resolve the Bafana Bafana head coach matter by the end of the month, it is to be understood that with these matters, it involves complex negotiations with the potential replacement, and therefore not always possible to resolve such matters in a short space of time.”
Ntseki has been in the Safa structures for some time, and was previously coach of the Under-17 side. It remains to be seen if he is in charge for Bafana’s friendly international in September, or a permanent coach has been employed by then.
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