South Africa: National football coach escapes dismissal

Pretoria, South Africa (PANA) – South Africa’s national football coach, Gordon Igesund, on Thursday escaped being sacked following a major investigation to determine whether he breached his contract.

Igesund was cleared of trying to influence his players to ask for more bonuses during the African Nations Championship (Chan) in January.

South African Football Association (SAFA) lawyer, Norman Arendse, who addressed a media briefing in Johannesburg, said the probe also found no basis for allegations that Igesund’s team selections were influenced by the player's agents.

"The two allegations against the head coach had no substance whatsoever," Arendse said.

Igesund, who is the most successful domestic coach in South African history, has had mixed results since he was appointed national coach in 2012.

After crashing out in the group stages of the African Nations Championship in Cape Town in January, South Africa suffered a humiliating 5-0 home defeat to Brazil last month and the team dropped to 66th place on the FIFA rankings, which were released last week.
-0- PANA CU/VAO 17April2014