Johannesburg — Walter Steenbok might be new in his role as the Safa technical director but he sounds like a man who has a clear vision for the development and growth of South African football.
Appointed as Safa's TD on a five-year deal in September last year, replacing Neil Tovey, Steenbok must have known that his work would be cut out for him as he has to clean the muddied face of SA football.
But speaking during a Safa-organised breakfast event in Johannesburg this week, alongside the rest of the Safa leadership, Steenbok spoke like a man who already knows what he’s up against.
On his to-do-list is the quick implementation of the CAF Club Licensing regulations, which include the appointment of qualified coaches and launch of women’s teams by the clubs in the professional league.
In his vision that he’ll present at the Safa Congress this weekend, Steenbok will advise that coaches in the top-flight and NFD should be CAF A and B Coaching License holders, respectively.
He argues that the appointment of every Tom, Dick and Harry deteriorates the standards of SA football, leading to the national teams’ failure to qualify for major tournaments, while few players are exported to the best leagues abroad.
There is a concern, though, about how his mandates will be received by the PSL.
And while that remains a mystery for now, it must be highlighted that Steenbok is not speaking as a novice to SA football. He coached in the PSL and worked for brands such as Kaizer Chiefs and Mamelodi Sundowns over the years.
Most importantly, he’s not all talk. He’s leading from the front, having amassed many qualifications, including a CAF A License.
That’s why the Phd master’s candidate from the University of Johannesburg (UJ) could be the best thing that has happened to SA football if his vision is supported by both the mother body, Safa, and its special member, the PSL.
Granted, the PSL is one of the best leagues, not only on the continent, but in the world, thanks to the efforts of their administration, led by chairman Irvin Khoza, but the way clubs are run muddies the league’s image.
The so-called small clubs, particularly Chippa United, hire and fire coaches for fun because they are not willing to dig deep to appoint qualified coaches, from here or abroad.
This has seen most of those clubs battle with relegation season-in and season-out, while players end up as the victims as they are either subjected to job losses or salary cuts if the clubs go down.
Moreover, if women’s football is going to continue to grow, PSL clubs need to come to the party by launching their respective women’s teams – in line with the directive from CAF.
This will come at great cost but it’s for the betterment of our beloved national team Banyana Banyana, who’ve been the toast of the nation compared to their male counterparts in the last few years.
Already Banyana have qualified for their second successive World Cup, with only the help of Sundowns, University of Pretoria, Royal AM and TS Galaxy from the PSL – as they are the four clubs that have women’s teams.
So, imagine if the rest of the 28 clubs from the PSL – at least 13 from the top-flights – also had women’s teams ... Banyana would be all but guaranteed qualification for the major events.
IOL Sport