Stuart Baxter to hand over Bafana Bafana coaching reins to Thabo Senong

Stuart Baxter will no longer be coaching the national team for the African Nations Championship‚ handing over that task to his assistant Thabo Senong.

The South African Football Association (Safa) have decided that Baxter cannot afford the time to be involved in the two-legged tie against Zambia next month that will decide a place at next January’s finals in Kenya.

South Africa will host the first leg of the final round qualifier on Saturday‚ August 12 and play the return match in Zambia one week later.

The dates conflict with the kick off of the new Premier Soccer League season and Safa will have to again beg for players to put together a team.

“We will probably look again at the under-20 side to provide the backbone of this selection and that is why it is better that Thabo take charge‚” explained Safa president Danny Jordaan.

Senong coached the South African side at the May’s U-20 World Cup in South Korea and was assistant over the last two weekends as Baxter led a makeshift national team to a 3-0 aggregate victory over Botswana in the first round of CHAN-2018 qualifying.

Zambia booked their place in the final qualifying round by comprehensively beating Swaziland 7-0 on aggregate.

Baxter will devote his energies instead on preparing for the two World Cup qualifiers against the Cape Verde Islands that will be played at the start of September.

The first game is away in Praia on September 1 and the follow up in Durban on September 5‚ with SAFA setting the target of a full six points to ensure that the country stays in pole position for a place at next year’s World Cup finals in Russia.

South Africa have four points from their opening two matches in the qualifying group.

- TimesLIVE