Former South Africa Under-23 captain Matthew Booth is heading to Namibia for a coaching course as he plans for the next phase of his career.
The 43-year-old started his CAF D Licence in 2017, but that stalled as the continental body looked to realign itself with UEFA’s coaching licences.
Booth has since struggled to get any information from SAFA as to the next steps, so he will head to Windhoek post-lockdown to pick up where he left off.
“I did my CAF D licence about three years ago and SAFA halted everything‚” Booth is quoted by TimesLive. “Apparently CAF was trying to negotiate with UEFA to make the CAF licence equal to the UEFA one‚ and this has taken a number of years.
“SAFA stopped all CAF A‚ B and C licence courses while that happened. They recently resumed and I’ve tried to get on the list, but I’m tired of having to chase people; almost as if you’re asking for favours when in fact it should be a natural progression.
“I don’t want anyone to pay for me or anything like that. All I want is information on it. I’m fed up with chasing people, asking them to do me favours with my cap in hand. I feel ex-pros should have been put on some sort of a database and given the opportunity to do administration and coaching licences. But that hasn’t happened.
“So I was planning to go and do my UEFA C in Windhoek in June. Which is‚ can you believe it‚ a local course run by the Scottish FA. They were actually doing it in SA‚ but then they got chased out.
“There were a number of SA ex-players keen on going. It’s quite a bit more expensive than the CAF licence but at least it’s better‚ because you can’t work in Europe with the CAF licence.”
Despite chasing the coaching licences, Booth is still unsure as whether he actually wants to pursue a career as a football coach.
“I’m sitting on the fence about coaching‚ and I also need to be prepared for it. I got an offer from an NFD club out of the blue‚ and I had to explain to them that I wasn’t qualified for the job.
“Funny enough the owner said to me: ‘No‚ don’t worry ... I know the business myself - I would be able to guide you.’ There and then I realised what a lot of coaches have to put up with. And that’s not what I want. I want to be my own man.”