Ex-Chiefs, Sundowns head scout Steenbok lands SAFA TD job  |

Former Kaizer Chiefs and Mamelodi Sundowns head scout Walter Steenbok is set to be appointed technical director of the South Africa Football Association [SAFA].

Steenbok was on Saturday spotted at SAFA House, where the association’s national executive is holding a meeting.

“A decision has been taken by the NEC, and he’s emerged as the best candidate for the job. They will soon announce him as TD,” a source said.

For over two years, since the departure of Neil Tovey, the position has been vacant.

Frans Mogashoa has been acting since August 2020 after the former Bafana Bafana captain completed his five-year term. Tovey replaced Serame Letsoaka in 2015. 

SAFA have been on a search for their new TD since last year in April, with over 100 candidates applying for the plum job.

After reviewing the applications and screening the candidates, three frontrunners emerged.

They included Steenbok, ex-COSAFA stalwart Zunaid Mall and Joe de Oliviera, formerly SAFA’s technical officer in Gauteng.

In the next stage of the process, the trio were interviewed by an independent company appointed by SAFA. 

The successful candidate needed to possess a Master’s Degree or NQF equivalent and an advanced football coaching license [CAF A License or its equivalent], five years experience in a senior management position, five years of experience as a national team coach or a professional Premier Division coach and extensive experience as a coach educator. 

Some of the responsibilities of the TD 

• To maintain contacts with CAF’s coach education department to coordinate, implement, monitor and provide feedback on all matters regarding coach education.
• To organise, administer and coordinate the Confederation’s license courses, re-training courses and all other activities deemed appropriate and relevant to coaching development.
• To appoint technical study groups [coach instructors] to analyse trends and developments in football.
• To develop, implement and oversee a talent identification system for elite young players;
• To organise courses, seminars and workshops for elite coaches and specialist coaches [youth, goalkeeper, women, etc.] as well as symposiums

Steenbok’s background 

Steenbok recently bagged his second master’s degree in Madrid, Spain. The man credited for discovering several top talents in the PSL completed his MBA from the Real Madrid Graduate School – Universidad Europea in Spain. 

Prior to that, he received his first master’s degree in sports directorship from Manchester Metropolitan University in 2020.

He holds a CAF A and SAFA Pro License and has functioned in several roles in football. 

The author of The Football Scouting Bible, a book that redefines the art of scouting in the local game, has worked as a coach, scout, analyst and academy manager.

In fact, the man affectionately known as Baresi boasts a unique record of having coached at all levels in the domestic game, including stints at the now-defunct Benoni Premier United and Basotho Tigers.

Dubbed ‘The Mastermind’ by Pitso Mosimane, he was part of the Sundowns technical team that won the CAF Champions League and three PSL titles.