The South African Football Association has acknowledged that there might be some red flags surrounding Bafana Bafana coach Shakes Mashaba and assistant Owen da Gama's continued role as coaches of the Nedbank Ke Yona team.
Mashaba and Da Gama have continued in their role with the Ke Yona development team, which scours the country for young talent then pits its players against Premier Soccer League and National First Division teams.
Several Ke Yona players have been spotted and signed by professional sides because of the initiative, begun by Nedbank in 2012. Mashaba, Da Gama and Mike Mangena are the current coaches and selectors of the team.
Safa head of communications manager Dominic Chimhavi said chief executive Dennis Mumble did not want to comment yesterday on any potential conflict of interest.
Mashaba and Da Gama have been with Ke Yona since being appointed Bafana coach and assistant in August last year.
"All I can say is Safa does believe there might be an issue with it, and we are dealing with it," Chimhavi said.
The contentious issue is around whether a national coach drawing a considerable salary from the national governing body should also be getting paid for being part of the Ke Yona initiative.
And there is also a potential conflict of interest for national coaches to be involved in a development programme designed to bring young talent through to professional teams.
Most recently, the Ke Yona initiative held trials in Port Elizabeth and Umlazi, Durban, this past weekend, running the rule over 900 hopefuls.
"We have seen some eye-catching talent in both provinces this past weekend.
All professional players had to start somewhere and through such initiatives, we can be able to identify more of these rough diamonds and shape them into complete footballers for our country," Mashaba said in a statement.
Safa may flag Shakes
The South African Football Association has acknowledged that there might be some red flags surrounding Bafana Bafana coach Shakes Mashaba and assistant Owen da Gama's continued role as coaches of the Nedbank Ke Yona team.
Mashaba and Da Gama have continued in their role with the Ke Yona development team, which scours the country for young talent then pits its players against Premier Soccer League and National First Division teams.
Several Ke Yona players have been spotted and signed by professional sides because of the initiative, begun by Nedbank in 2012. Mashaba, Da Gama and Mike Mangena are the current coaches and selectors of the team.
Safa head of communications manager Dominic Chimhavi said chief executive Dennis Mumble did not want to comment yesterday on any potential conflict of interest.
Mashaba and Da Gama have been with Ke Yona since being appointed Bafana coach and assistant in August last year.
"All I can say is Safa does believe there might be an issue with it, and we are dealing with it," Chimhavi said.
The contentious issue is around whether a national coach drawing a considerable salary from the national governing body should also be getting paid for being part of the Ke Yona initiative.
And there is also a potential conflict of interest for national coaches to be involved in a development programme designed to bring young talent through to professional teams.
Most recently, the Ke Yona initiative held trials in Port Elizabeth and Umlazi, Durban, this past weekend, running the rule over 900 hopefuls.
"We have seen some eye-catching talent in both provinces this past weekend.
All professional players had to start somewhere and through such initiatives, we can be able to identify more of these rough diamonds and shape them into complete footballers for our country," Mashaba said in a statement.
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