BAFANA Bafana coach Gordon Igesund remained defiant in the face of increasing pressure, saying he believes his name will be cleared by Safa’s inquiry into him.
Igesund believes his contract will be renewed in August, and he will lead the team to the qualifiers for the 2015 Africa Cup of Nations later this year.
This despite reports that the results of the inquiry might not go Igesund’s way, and that his job is in jeopardy.
Igesund said to his knowledge the investigation has been completed.
“The committee’s finished now – it’s over. And the report will be in soon.”
The coach said the bad press he had received surrounding the inquiry into whether he influenced players to rebel over bonuses ahead of the African Nations Championship (Chan) in January, and has been influenced on selections by agents, had been unfair.
“It has been totally unnecessary and unfounded, and people are making opinions – they’re only going to find out at the end of the day how unfair they’ve been,” he said yesterday.
“It’s a normal day in the office. I expect that kind of thing – people want to sell newspapers. I wish people would do more investigation rather than just writing stories and making accusations.
“There’s a hearing, why not wait for to come out and you’ll find out what the truth is. That’s what I think you should do.
“There’s been lots of totally unfounded allegations, and the truth will always set you free – and that’s why I welcomed the investigation.”
Igesund said he believes the investigation went in his favour. “Excellent, and I’m very happy it came out. I’ve always been confident. There absolutely was no foundation whatsoever .”
He said of his own testimony last week: “I told the truth, the way it was.” The coach said he has been angered that his credibility has been questioned
“What made me very cross was my integrity and my honesty were questioned. And there’s absolutely no doubt about my honesty and integrity. I’ve been involved in the game for 40 years in this country, since 1986.
“And all of a sudden there are allegations. Allegations about Khune – the doctor’s reports are there. Allegations about agents – there’s no such thing. Allegations about asking players to do certain things, and players said certain things which they didn’t.
“The truth will always set you free. They had a hearing, top attorneys were there, they had everybody there. Players and whoever said certain things and made allegations had to answer to those allegations.
“So let’s wait until the report has been made available to everybody.”
The deadline for the inquiry to report to Safa is April 15, but the head of the probe, Norman Arendse, has told the Daily Dispatch it should be ready before then.
Igesund stoic amid storm
Igesund believes his contract will be renewed in August, and he will lead the team to the qualifiers for the 2015 Africa Cup of Nations later this year.
This despite reports that the results of the inquiry might not go Igesund’s way, and that his job is in jeopardy.
Igesund said to his knowledge the investigation has been completed.
“The committee’s finished now – it’s over. And the report will be in soon.”
The coach said the bad press he had received surrounding the inquiry into whether he influenced players to rebel over bonuses ahead of the African Nations Championship (Chan) in January, and has been influenced on selections by agents, had been unfair.
“It has been totally unnecessary and unfounded, and people are making opinions – they’re only going to find out at the end of the day how unfair they’ve been,” he said yesterday.
“It’s a normal day in the office. I expect that kind of thing – people want to sell newspapers. I wish people would do more investigation rather than just writing stories and making accusations.
“There’s a hearing, why not wait for to come out and you’ll find out what the truth is. That’s what I think you should do.
“There’s been lots of totally unfounded allegations, and the truth will always set you free – and that’s why I welcomed the investigation.”
Igesund said he believes the investigation went in his favour. “Excellent, and I’m very happy it came out. I’ve always been confident. There absolutely was no foundation whatsoever .”
He said of his own testimony last week: “I told the truth, the way it was.” The coach said he has been angered that his credibility has been questioned
“What made me very cross was my integrity and my honesty were questioned. And there’s absolutely no doubt about my honesty and integrity. I’ve been involved in the game for 40 years in this country, since 1986.
“And all of a sudden there are allegations. Allegations about Khune – the doctor’s reports are there. Allegations about agents – there’s no such thing. Allegations about asking players to do certain things, and players said certain things which they didn’t.
“The truth will always set you free. They had a hearing, top attorneys were there, they had everybody there. Players and whoever said certain things and made allegations had to answer to those allegations.
“So let’s wait until the report has been made available to everybody.”
The deadline for the inquiry to report to Safa is April 15, but the head of the probe, Norman Arendse, has told the Daily Dispatch it should be ready before then.
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