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As the contract impasse between the South African Football Association (Safa) and Pitso Mosimane drags on, time is running out to adequately prepare for next month’s Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) qualifiers against Guinea and Eritrea.The game against Guinea is set for September 23 to 25 at a venue in South Africa to be confirmed. Days later, Bafana travel to Asmara for the second match against Eritrea.It is just more than a month before the start of qualifiers for the tournament to be co-hosted next year by Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania (Pamoja), and Safa and Mosimane are yet to come to an agreement. Bafana players are expected to report for camp on September 20 or 21 to prepare for the matches against Guinea and Eritrea.Safa and Mosimane have been negotiating for the past few weeks, but there has been no end in sight due to a deadlock on key issues. The 62-year-old Mosimane would return for his second stint with Bafana, who he coached from July 2010 to June 2012 after being assistant coach from 2007The association’s national executive committee (NEC), in a meeting on August 8, approved Mosimane as the successor to Hugo Broos but without having agreed on terms with the former SuperSport United, Mamelodi Sundowns and Al Ahly coach. The 62-year-old Mosimane would return for his second stint with Bafana, who he coached from July 2010 to June 2012 after being assistant coach from 2007.Broos left the post to retire from coaching when his five-year stint ended after leading Bafana at the World Cup in North America in June.It is understood a major sticking point in the contract negotiations is over fitness trainer Kabelo Rangoaga and analyst Musi Matlaba joining Mosimane on a full-time basis. It appears a compromise could be reached with Rangoaga and Matlaba being given full-time contracts in the role of assistant coaches, but Safa also wants to solely decide on other members of the backroom staff. There is also the issue of Broos’ goalkeeper coach Grant Johnson continuing, especially after allegations of unprofessionalism he made against Safa in recent weeks. Another issue that needs to be addressed is the future of Sundowns analyst Tinashe Mukandatsama, who worked closely with Sinesipho Mali in a part-time role for Bafana. With Matlaba set to double up as assistant and analyst, Mukandatsama may go back to work with the junior national teams. The delay has opened up a situation where international agents are taking advantage by linking their clients to Bafana via media outlets, as they did with Uruguayan Gustavo Poyet this week. Whoever takes over Bafana will have to do without hugely influential injured players Mbekezeli Mbokazi, Khuliso Mudau, Thalente Mbatha and Evidence MakgopaBecause of the uncertainty, Safa are believed to be working on a plan B and C for the coming matches, with Broos and technical director Molefi Ntseki, also a former Bafana coach, lined up as options if the deal with Mosimane falls through. Safa wanted to announce Mosimane last week so he could start preparations for September’s two qualifiers in earnest. Time has been running out for the announcement of the preliminary squad, which is usually named about a month before matches after the national coach has travelled around the country to observe players he wants to use. Some at Safa House, arguing for members of Broos’ backroom staff to remain, have stressed the need for continuity because the incumbents will know how to deal with the delicate situation of the death in July of Bafana and Sundowns midfielder Jayden Adams. Players will be coming together for the first time since Adams’s apparent suicide in Cape Town. Whoever takes over Bafana will have to do without hugely influential injured players Mbekezeli Mbokazi, Khuliso Mudau, Thalente Mbatha and Evidence Makgopa. Teboho Mokoena remains a doubt after he suffered an injury playing for Sundowns this month, and it is not known if Lyle Foster will be available after he missed Burnley’s opening match in the Championship last weekend against West Ham.
