South African Football Association has released a statement amidst speculation that AmaZulu FC mentor Benni McCarthy is about to be appointed the new Bafana Bafana head coach.
The legendary South African striker has been heavily linked with the coaching job which became vacant after Molefi Ntseki was dismissed following Bafana Bafana's failure to qualify for the 2022 Africa Cup of Nations finals two months ago.
Former Bafana coaches Carlos Queiroz and Pitso Mosimane were thought to be on the running for the Bafana job, but recent reports have indicated that the duo is not interested in taking charge of the national team for the second time.
On Thursday, Safa announced that the new Bafana coach would be unveiled next week and they have now released the following statement addressing media speculation.
"We have noted that various publications over the last week have reported the appointment of new Bafana Bafana coach as having been concluded," a statement read on Sunday.
"Firstly, it was Carlos Queiroz then Pitso Mosimane and most recently AmaZulu coach Benni McCarthy.
"Safa has always stated that the Technical Committee will submit their final recommendations to the Safa NEC, the highest decision-making body, which will finally make the announcement once the process is concluded."
McCarthy, who is widely considered to be of the greatest South African footballers of all time, has impressed at AmaZulu having turned the team into PSL title contenders after joining the KwaZulu-Natal giants in December 2020.
The local football governing body explained that they have no intentions of derailing AmaZulu's good run with Usuthu undefeated in their last 16 matches in the league.
"We note that the Benni McCarthy’s name comes at a time when AmaZulu are top of the log standings and it might appear that Safa wants to derail the club’s good run," another statement read.
"We are happy with AmaZulu’s current good run but Safa will announce the new incoming coach once the issue is dealt with by the NEC."
McCarthy, 43, also coached Cape Town City between 2017 and 2019 and he guided the Mother City side to the 2018 MTN8 triumph.
