Safa president Danny Jordaan has urged former South Africa captain Lucas Radebe to make up his mind if he intends to take up the association’s technical role he was recently appointed to.
The former Kaizer Chiefs and Leeds United defender has previously served in the Safa technical committee and recently there have been rumours he wants a bigger job at the local football governing body.
Jordaan said Radebe appears keen on another role and Safa has no problem with redeploying the Bafana Bafana legend to an administrative position.
“Coming back to Lucas specifically, I asked him whether he was looking at being a technical director, because some of the things he says in the media it sounds like he wants to be an administrator,” Jordaan told Cosafa.com.
“If he wants to be an administrator, he must then tell us so that we can get him out of the technical stream. That is for him to decide.”
Other Bafana Bafana legends also in the Safa technical committee include former defender Fabian McCarthy, ex-Kaizer Chiefs goalkeeper Brian Baloyi and David Nyathi.
Jordaan said the football mother body is keen to work with former footballers, urging them to acquire qualifications for various positions.
“We encourage former players [to get involved at Safa], but also to either get an education or get technical qualifications. It is sometimes a problem, especially for those that have played at the highest level,” said Jordaan.
“I remember the story of [Dutch legend] Ruud Gullit. When he was at the end of his career and retired, he went back to Holland and I had this conversation with him. The KNVB is very clear, if you do not have qualifications, you can’t be a coach at any level.
“Gullit told them, ‘I am looking at you in this room, who are telling me I cannot coach the Dutch national team. What are your qualifications?’ He said he was quite arrogant, but they stuck to their guns.
“I had an example in South Africa too, where I had to speak to this legend, who also felt he knew everything about football, so why must he now be told by people who have never played at the highest level how to coach?
“So I agreed with him, he could do it orally. You sit down there and you explain all the things you know. The evaluators can sit there, and if you can prove that yes, you know all things they want you to know at Fifa level coaching badge, then we will give [the job] to you.”
Not many former footballers are involved in the administration of the game locally with most preferring coaching jobs.
