A high-ranking source within the South African Football Association (SAFA) has strongly refuted claims made by former technical director Walter Steenbok, accusing him of jealousy and attempting to destabilize the junior national teams.

The source alleges that Steenbok sought to remove successful U/20 coach Raymond Mdaka and U/17 coach Vela Khumalo in favor of his own appointments.

According to the SAFA insider, Steenbok was “captured by agents” and aimed for both junior national teams to fail in their World Cup qualification bids.

This accusation comes after both teams achieved significant success: Amajita, under Mdaka, qualified for the U/20 FIFA World Cup by reaching the semi-finals of the U/20 Africa Cup of Nations and subsequently winning the trophy last Sunday.

Similarly, the U/17 team, led by Khumalo, secured their spot in the FIFA U/17 World Cup by reaching the quarter-finals in April.

The SAFA source suggests that Steenbok’s alleged jealousy stems from these achievements occurring “without his input,” and that he is now “looking for public sympathy.”

Furthermore, a source revealed to Sportswire that Steenbok was reportedly in a relationship with a SAFA employee who has since been suspended. The SAFA source emphasized that the association will not “stoop low to have a back-and-forth argument” with Steenbok, whom they claim “wanted to destroy the junior national teams.”

“Why did he resign? That is the question,” the source stated. “He had hoped the team [U/20] would fail to qualify for the World Cup, and unfortunately for him, the team didn’t. He then wanted to remove Raymond Mdaka, he wanted to remove Vela Khumalo and appoint his coaches. People are saying he was a players’ agent, and that is not right. You can’t be a technical director and a players’ agent. So, there were many issues there.”

The source continued, “We kept quiet, and he had hoped that the team [U/20] would fail, and the team succeeded and won without him. He had left SAFA [when we won the U/20 AFCON], he can’t now say it is him that made the team win; he was not there. He had resigned and left. Now, he comes with stories, one after another. He is looking for public sympathy.”

Regarding Steenbok’s departure and alleged grievances about his contract, the source added, “As far as his payment and contract are concerned, he negotiated the contract with Lydia [Monyepao, SAFA CEO] and the administration, and he was paid. He accepted the salary for the two years that he was there.

“Why didn’t he raise the issues that he is raising now? He wrote a letter when his attempt to not appoint the coaches of his choice – Vela and Raymond Mdaka were not included. He wants to hold the gun to the head of the CEO, and you can speak to the SAFA CEO and Jack Maluleka [SAFA NEC and head of technical committee].”

Sportswire attempted to contact both SAFA CEO Monyepao and SAFA Head of Technical Committee Maluleka for comment regarding the reasons for Steenbok’s resignation, but neither answered their phones.

“Walter must be exposed,” the SAFA source further asserted. “The person who is suspended by SAFA now sold confidential information, and it was a violation of the POPI Act. We will issue a statement about the said person.

“But what is the issue here? This is a campaign against SAFA. Walter is an opportunist; he wanted to derail, and both of our teams are going to the World Cup without his input. Walter is bitter. He now told someone that he wanted to withdraw his resignation letter. It was part of his campaign to remove Vela Khumalo and Mdaka from the junior national teams.”

Sportswire attempted to reach Walter Steenbok for comment, but he did not answer his call. His response, if obtained, will be included in a follow-up story.

The source concluded, “He then wrote a letter to resign, and he was unhappy about his girlfriend having issues with SAFA. This has nothing to do with politics; this is administration stuff. If he had problems with administration, he must say so and raise these matters with administration.”