Only
then, said SAFA President, would the coach’s future come for discussion. The
SAFA President has in the past told the media about his admiration for Igesund
and again reiterated the same sentiments when the team arrived home on Monday from
the World Cup qualifying assignments where they beat Central African Republic
(CAR) and lost to Ethiopia.
The
2-1 defeat to Ethiopia effectively knocked Bafana Bafana out of contention for
a place to Brazil 2014. That defeat led to speculation that Igesund’s contract
would be reviewed and that he would meet his employers soon to chat the way
forward.
However,
Nematandani who was with the team on the two assignments said the Association
would not meet Igesund with regards to his contract because that item ‘is not
on the agenda’.
“We
are aware of the media reports doing rounds about Gordon’s future,” said
Nematandani. “One thing must be made clear here, the coach’s future is not
under discussion. He (Igesund) is the Bafana Bafana coach and we have a
contract with Gordon until next year and I don’t know where the media is
picking the story that we would meet the coach to talk about his contract.
There is nothing like that.”
Bafana
Bafana trail Ethiopia by five points in Group A of the 2014 World Cup
qualifiers with one match to go (against Botswana).
The
SAFA president said it was important to stay focused on the challenges at hand
which included the outstanding World Cup match against Botswana.
“We
still have that (Botswana) match to play and also the Cosafa Cup next month.
Once we are done with that we have to start looking at the CHAN as well as the
qualification for the 2015 Afcon,” Nematandani said.
The
SAFA President said he was very impressed with the fighting spirit and
commitment shown by the players despite some travel logistics nightmare in
Cameroon.
“We
have to commend Bafana Bafana for their fighting spirit against CAR and
Ethiopia. If anything, our players can never be accused of not trying
especially against Ethiopia. They went down fighting and were just unfortunate
on the day. We have to give credit to Gordon and his technical team for
instilling that kind of fighting spirit,” said Nematandani.
With
the national team looking out of sorts, Igesund has, in a short period of time
managed to get the team scoring goals. He has also managed to broaden his pool
of players as evidenced in the two qualifiers where the team was ravaged by
injuries but still put up a brave show.
Meanwhile,
the SAFA President said he was aware of reports that Ethiopia is facing Fifa
sanctions after fielding a suspended player in their qualifier against
Botswana. “In fairness, this has nothing to do with us,” he said. “It is a
matter between Botswana and Ethiopia, but we will wait and see.”
