In a shock move, the SA Football Association (Safa) is believed to be considering offering a short-term contract to David Notoane as Bafana Bafana interim coach for the first two matches of the 2022 Qatar Fifa World Cup qualifiers in June.
The decision to go for SA under-23s coach Notoane comes after Carlos Queiroz apparently turned down Safa’s approach last week.
With time running out before Bafana’s first match against Zimbabwe on June 5, Safa now wants Notoane to assemble a team as a temporary solution while they scramble to find Molefi Ntseki's replacement. The squad must be announced in the next two weeks to allow call-up letters to be sent out to teams, for the qualifiers away to Zimbabwe and at home to Ghana a few days later.
Notoane, said sources, could be named as the interim coach likely on Monday or Tuesday, and this will also be combined with preparations for the Tokyo Olympics in July with the SA U-23. Notoane is currently in charge of the SA-U23 and is preparing for the Olympics taking place in July, and adding such a demanding role on his place when he's inexperienced could send shockwaves throughout the country.
But Safa spokesperson Dominic Chimhavi said he was not aware that the association is considering Notoane to take over in the time being. “This is the first time I hear it from you. I’ve never heard it before. Where did you get that?" Chimhavi responded to Sowetan. “I don’t know anything about that, and I can’t comment on anything I don’t know.”
With Queiroz having apparently grown disinterested, Safa is understood to be now looking at Belgian Hugo Broos to take over as the new head coach.
But it is understood that they don’t want to hire someone now who has less knowledge of SA football with the World Cup qualifiers around the corner. Broos led Cameroon to the 2017 Africa Cup of Nations title.
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