Safa concedes a local Bafana Bafana coach was their priority

The inability to pry a South African-born coach away from his club was the reason why Safa hired Belgian Hugo Broos as the new Bafana Bafana coach.

It had widely been reported that AmaZulu head coach Benni McCarthy was among the front-runners for the Bafana Bafana job.

The names of international coaches such as ex-Bafana Bafana and Real Madrid coach Carlos Queiroz as well as two-time Afcon-winning coach Herve Renard were also seemingly on the short-list.

It's unclear who the other South African-born coaches in contention were, although it's likely Pitso Mosimane, now at Al Ahly in Egypt, may have been one of them.

According to a report, Safa technical committee member Sudesh Singh said that there had been a shortlist of five coaches, three of whom were local and two foreign.

Singh said a local man had indeed been the priority, but that it just had not been possible.

"The CEO engaged them [the local coaches] but they had contractual obligations with their clubs," Singh told a parliamentary portfolio committee, as quoted by the Daily Sun.

"We then came up with the name of Hugo Broos who had a similar success story. But our priority was to have a local coach drive this project, but having said that, I think we have the right man to drive this project.

"Our key objective is to have a group, crew of local coaches working with him. Eventually, they can take over and drive this project going forward."

While Safa has been criticised for Bafana Bafana's disappointing form including their failure to qualify for Afcon, Singh pointed out that there have been other successes for South African football - the likes of Mamelodi Sundowns, Kaizer Chiefs and Orlando Pirates have all done well in Caf club competitions.

"Let me put it in context, at the PSL we have three clubs representing the country at Caf level (Champions League and Confederation Cup).

"SA football is in a healthy state - yes we understand the frustration of fans and media because Bafana are our flagship.

"A lot of positive work has been done. We do admit some shortcomings. We are still evaluating on our Vision 2022 project, which has been our long term plan."