Kickoff (Cape Town)
18 December 2008
South African national Under-20 team coach Serame Letsoaka has been left in the lurch by Safa, with the members of the motherbody all going off on holiday, leaving unfinished business.
A source close to the Amajita mentor discloses to KickOff.com that Letsoaka has submitted his programme to Safa for the national team's participation in the 2009 African Youth Championships being staged in Rwanda next month but has had no response from them.
Safa appears to be ignoring the importance of this tournament from which the top four qualify for the World Cup to be staged in Egypt later in the year.
Amajita is in the highly competitive Group B along with Nigeria, Ivory Coast and Egypt.
"What is frustrating Letsoaka is that other teams are already underway with their preparations because they value the importance of this tournament, but he is left hanging.
"The coach is not even sure about the squad that he will travel with because it is not certain which players will be available."
Some Premier League clubs may choose not to release their players as the competition runs from January 18 to February 1.
"He needs to know which player will be available to him early so that he can plan ahead.
"Letsoaka now feels that Amajita will not be going to Rwanda to compete but just to add to the numbers. The way Safa is handling this issue has left him disappointed and low in motivation.
"To my mind, the way Safa is treating this team, who recently reclaimed their title as Cosafa Under-20 champions, shows they don't really value development in this country."
Efforts to get comment from Safa proved futile, while CEO Raymond Hack's phone rang unanswered at the time of writing.
Ironically, on Friday, December 12, the day Safa went on a month-long holiday, KickOff.com reported that the motherbody was showing a complete disregard for local players involved in the CAF African Nations Championship.
The makeshift side that Letsoaka took to Zimbabwe hardly represented a locally-based Bafana B side.
Earlier today, KickOff.com also reported that statistics pertaining to the Vodacom Leagues have not been made available from Safa for the third week running.
Valuable computers and equipment used to collate the latest log tables were stolen from Safa House recently, however Hack, who was contacted by KickOff.com promised this would be sorted out by his acting director of competitions, Jeff Monnakgotla, and the relevant information faxed through, however, nothing has been done since.
The way things are going now it seems everyone, perhaps even Letsoaka, the Amajita squad and the nation, will have to wait for Safa to come back from their festive break.
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