SAFA CEO Tebogo Motlanthe says that they will give Bafana Bafana Coach Molefi Ntseki all the support he requires because qualification for both the Afcon finals in Cameroon and the World Cup finals in Qatar must be achieved.
At 39, Advocate Motlanthe became the youngest South African Football Association (SAFA) Chief Executive Officer (CEO) when he was appointed officially in January. He had served as an acting CEO since April 2020; previously he had served the FA as a head of legal and compliance after having worked at the 2010 FIFA World Cup local organising committee.
He comes in at a critical time when SAFA is looking to wrap up its vision 2022, and on the field of playBafana Bafana has to qualify for the Africa Cup of Nations tournament in Cameroon by the end of this month, before starting 2022 World Cupqualifers in June.
In a wide ranging interview with iDiski Times’ senior writer Velile Mnyandu in Edition 10, Motlanthe says
“Look, these are exciting times of the national team, Motlanthe told iDiski Times.
“Firstly, I believe that once we qualify for the Africa Cup of Nations, that will serve as a motivation for the World Cup.”
“And of course, administratively, as you rightfully say, what we need to do is to avail all the necessary support to the national team coach and ensure that we are attained that we can plan for 2026; we are saying we must be in Qatar.”
“And we are saying we must be in Cameroon, of course you cannot plan to fail, you cannot plan to the now, we will then see 2026.”
“So why are we then participating in the Qatar qualifers? So whatever tournament we play at, the expectation is that we must qualify. And I’ve made an undertaking to the coach that we will give him all the necessary support.”
Read the full interview in Edition Ten of iDiski Times.
