Former Bafana Bafana and Kaizer Chiefs head coach Molefi Ntseki might make a sensational return to the South African Football Association (SAFA), iDiski Times has been informed. Â
SAFA are reportedly considering Ntseki to beef up the Bafana technical team, to have a second assistant coach to Hugo Broos, or for the head-coach role of the national U23 side.Â
Coach Broos lost his first assistant Cedomir Javenski who he came with in 2021 and did not replace the former North Macedonia international, leaving only Helman Mkhalele as his right-hand man. Â
The U23 post is vacant after David Notoane resigned last year after SA’s U23 failed to qualify for the U23 AFCON that was held in Morocco in June and July 2023. At the time, the former Santos coach said it was impossible to succeed because there was a lack of support from SAFA and the PSL.Â
With Notoane gone, SAFA are said to be planning to bring back Ntseki, who previously coached the U17s at the association. Â
He qualified the SA U17 side to the FIFA World Cup in 2015 in Chile, but they lost two of the three matches, finishing at the bottom of the group. Â
He was then named as the Bafana coach in August 2019 after Stuart Baxter left the post, following the quarter-final exit to Nigeria at the AFCON in the same year in Egypt. Ntseki, in that tournament, was assistant to the former Kaizer Chiefs coach. Â
However, having replaced Baxter, Ntseki could not help Bafana qualify for the AFCON in Cameroon in 2022, losing the deciding match 2-0 away to Sudan, where they needed a draw to book their spot in March 2021. Â
SAFA then fired him, and he was replaced by Broos, who, unlike Ntseki, was able to qualify Bafana for the ongoing AFCON in Ivory Coast.Â
Ntseki was appointed as Chiefs Head of Technical and Youth Development Academy in May 2021, working as the linkman between the senior team and the development. Â
But head coach Arthur Zwane struggled to get things going last season and time and again had to leave the venues under police escort. Â
Chiefs appointed Ntseki as head coach in June last year, with Zwane given an assistant coach role. But the former Bloemfontein Celtic assistant coach, just like Zwane, struggled to get the required results this season. Â
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He was sacked on 23 October last year, leaving the club having won four of the 13 matches in charge.Â
Story by Robin-Duke Madlala (@duke_robin).