HERMAN GIBBS
Danny Jordaan, the president of Safa, and Hugo Broos have moved swiftly to dispel fears that the Bafana Bafana mentor has resigned ahead of the team’s 2026 World Cup qualifying campaign.
Jordaan shot down reports that the national team coach resigned a day after South Africa claimed the bronze medal at the Africa Cup of Nations in Ivory Coast, after beating the Democratic Republic of Congo 6-5 on penalties in the third-place play-off.
“It’s absolute nonsense to say the coach has resigned,” said Jordaan.
“He returned to South Africa earlier this week and is hard at work with the team’s technical staff to prepare for the national team’s matches later this month. We are dealing with saboteurs who want to derail South African football.
“These people are not happy that our teams, Bafana Bafana and Banyana Banyana, have been successful. These diversionary tactics are aimed to disrupt our progress and we have had to cope with these elements for the past few months.
“The latest disruption is spreading rumours that Safa’s CEO (Lydia Monyepao) has resigned. It is a blatant lie.”
Like Jordaan, Broos has refuted claims about his reported resignation and dismissed media reports as rumours.
“There’s nothing, really nothing,” Broos said.
“If Hugo Broos is leaving South Africa, then it will be because the federation decides I leave. That’s all.
“I’m happy with my job. I’m happy with the team.”
Monyepao, meanwhile, dismissed the resignation claim as malicious gossip with the contempt it deserves.
“The president and I have a healthy working relationship,” said Monyepao, who is also a former Banyana Banyana player.
Yesterday, Safa issued a statement which read briefly: “We will not be detracted from our plans, and we are fully focused on qualifying for the 2026 Fifa World Cup, and the 2024 Paris Olympic Games.
“Bafana are participating in the Fifa Series international friendlies pilot project in Algeria, which runs from March 18 to 24. Banyana are playing the final round of the Paris Olympics qualifiers against Nigeria between April 1 and 9.”
The Broos speculation follows the online publication of a Dutch podcast The Frank & Franky in Belgium. During the programme, Broos raised several issues that have dogged his tenure as Bafana’s coach. The major issue for Broos was the lack of co-operation from the PSL.
“The opposition of the league is something I don’t understand,” he said at the time.
The other sore point was the refusal of Orlando Pirates to allow Broos to watch their home matches, even with the required accreditation. He said he was not allowed entry to Orlando Stadium on multiple occasions, on the instruction of Pirates and PSL chairman Irvin Khoza.