Broos says he told Safa he would not take charge of SA U-23s at Tokyo Olympics

Hugo Broos has said he was asked by the SA Football Association (Safa) if he might take charge of the South African Under-23 team participating at the Olympic Games in Tokyo in July and August‚ but made it clear he would not.

David Notoane’s Olympic team is now effectively an Under-24 side, given the allowances in the rules of the men’s tournament at the Tokyo Games due to their postponement by a year. Three overage players are also permitted per squad.

New Bafana Bafana coach Broos said he told Safa that out of respect for Notoane‚ who qualified the team to the Olympics as third-placed finishers at the 2019 U-23 Africa Cup of Nations‚ he would not take charge of the team in Tokyo.

“They asked me‚ ‘Coach‚ will you do that?’ I said‚ ‘No‚ I will not do that,’” Broos said while being presented to the media at Safa House in Nasrec on Wednesday.

“Why? I need to have respect for the coach who qualified the U-23s for Japan. I will not come now and say I will do it. I have confidence in him. I will have a meeting with him in the coming days‚ and we will discuss it. But he is the coach who will take the team to the Olympics.

“And I will be monitoring the games. There will be no problem. But he will stay the coach. And I think I have to respect that.”

Notoane’s U-23s beat Ghana on penalties in the third-place playoff at the U-23 Nations Cup in Egypt.