iafrica.com's Head of Sport, Rob Peters, is absolutely amazed by the stupidity shown by Safa over the past week. Not surprised? just amazed.

It was obviously going to happen. The denials were effectively a ringing endorsement. Much as the 'kiss of death' for a football manager is the public endorsement from his boss, the public denial generally means it is true. Carlos Alberto Parreira ? less than two years after leaving Bafana Bafana in the lurch ? is back in the job.

It was not a surprise that Parreira was re-appointed, but that does not change the fact that Safa has got it wrong... again.

There are a number of questions to be asked.

Why appoint local coaches to monitor the team under Santana, but ignore them for the top job? Why go with a coach who has a less-than-dependable record? Why pay a fortune for said coach when you could get a local, with a better knowledge of the local game, for much less?

Safa, of course, have defended their decision. They are paying Parreira less apparently, eight months is too short a period for a new coach to take over, while they also felt it was best to stick to the master plan.

"Let us rally behind this coach. Sincerely, we all felt it should be a South African, but considering the fact we are running under somebody's plan, we felt that somebody must complete the plan," said Safa president Kirstin Nematandani on Friday evening.

That is such a load of crap.

Parreira has taken a cut in pay ? fact. He now earns a reported R1.5-million per month as opposed to the R1.8-million he was being paid before he bolted first time around. Wow, that's really playing hardball?

If Safa truly felt it should be a South African in charge they should have appointed one. Gavin Hunt, Gordon Igesund, and others spring to mind. They have an intimate knowledge of local players and conditions and could easily slot into the mix.

The notion that they need to stick to the plan put in place by Parreira, and then taken over by Joel Santana, is a stupendously flawed one. The 'plan' has not been working. Bafana Bafana's results are testimony to that?