Why Pirates’ Mokwena Isn’t Going With Bafana…
Orlando Pirates' Rhulani Mokwena Won't Be Joining Bafana
By Soccer Laduma - Mar 19, 2018 04:06 PM
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Stuart Baxter has once again bemoaned the timeline surrounding this week’s four-nation tournament in Zambia, with Orlando Pirates’ Rhulani Mokwena no longer going to be taking part.
Baxter had explained that he wanted the Pirates’ assistant to come along with the team to Zambia in an attempt to start ‘empowering’ young coaches in the country, although things haven’t quite worked out as planned.
With Bafana leaving for Zambia today, Mokwena won’t be on the plane, and Baxter admits that the whole situation could’ve been handled better.
Speaking to the media today, Baxter said, “Rhulani is not going to be taking part in our camp. We understand the situation that Pirates are in… As everyone knows, this camp has been really compromised in terms of time for preparation. The warning times for us to know we were taking part and leaving was very, very short.
“What that has done is that it’s also made the lines of communication a little bit shorter, and it’s possible that protocol wasn’t followed 100 percent.”
Baxter has been critical of the way that the tournament was put together, and says that the unorganised nature of it hasn’t helped in preparation.
He said, “You know, I got confirmation of the camp 10 days before we were due to leave, so the actual ‘negotiations’ – if you want to call it that – for the camp were protracted. Therefore everything had to go very quickly. Possibly, in a normal world, we would have given Pirates greater notice, and they felt a little bit that it was sprung on them. That’s understandable because they’re in a pressure situation at the moment.
“We've all agreed that the concept is a good one and we want to do it, and Rhulani is a good candidate. So, no one’s arguing, it’s just a question of making sure we do it at the right tempo that suits everybody.”
Bafana’s first game, against Angola, is on Thursday at 15h00 at Levy Mwanawasa Stadium in Ndola.
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