Richards Bay FC chairman Sifiso ‘Jomo’ Biyela has explained the reasoning behind the club’s decision to appoint Dimitar Nikolaev Pantev as their new head coach.
The Bulgarian was confirmed as the Natal Rich Boyz’s new coach earlier this week, replacing Ronnie Gabriel, who resigned following a difficult start to the season.
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Gabriel departed after Richards Bay managed just three draws and suffered four defeats in their opening seven Betway Premiership matches.
Biyela says Pantev’s impressive coaching CV played a major role in convincing the club that he was the right man to turn their fortunes around.
Pantev has already enjoyed success on the African continent, winning the 2024/25 Botswana Premier League title with Gaborone United and the 2025/26 National Cup with Jwaneng Galaxy FC.
He also guided Tanzanian giants Simba SC to the 2025 CAF Champions League group stages and helped Botswana’s Orapa United reach the 2024 CAF Confederation Cup group phase.
“We looked at his experience, a lot of wanted to take over,” said Biyela on Ukhozi FM’s Prime Time Sport with Victor Molefe.
“The funny thing is when you lose once just once, you’ll receive CV’s on WhatsApp. What I do, I just block that person.
“This time, we had several CV’s and we received a call from someone who told us about the coach and said look at his CV and we were impressed.
“We interviewed him and we’re happy about his style of play and we believe he’ll fit. He won leagues in his country, in Cameroon, Botswana and also did well in Tanzania.
“We felt let’s change this time around because we have been coached by local coaches.”