Kerr denies 'baseless' South Africa rumours

Brian Kerr has rubbished suggestions that he is set to be confirmed as the new South Africa manager ahead of this year's African Cup of Nations.

Kerr has applied for the job along with around another 40 applicants but there is no announcement due until after the tournament final in Cairo on February 10th.

In a statement released this afternoon Kerr said: "In order to clarify matters following the report in one national newspaper this morning I want to make my position regarding the South African Football Association clear.

"As I previously acknowledged, in response to a media query in December, I have applied for the position of National Team Manager for Safa in common with a large number of candidates.

"The South African Football Association has appointed Ted Dumitru as National Coach for the forthcoming African Nations Cup. The Association has, quite correctly, decided to concentrate on supporting Mr Dumitru until the Championships have concluded.

"Neither I nor my agent has made any attempt to contact the Safa since his appointment nor has the Safa made any attempt to contact us.

"It follows that any suggestion that a deal has been negotiated is completely baseless."

Despite his strong rebuke of this morning's Irish Independent report the South African job is top of Kerr's list.

His interest was confirmed when his agent Fintan Drury told the Irish Times last month that the former St Patrick's Athletic manager had applied to manage the host nation of the 2010 World Cup.

"He has applied. He is interested in the job, it's an attractive job," Drury said at the time. "He wants to be involved in professional football. Ideally, although not exclusively, he is attracted to international football.

"They are looking for somebody who has international experience but also they are very keen on the technical development side, which obviously he has done very successfully with the FAI, so he ticks a lot of their boxes."

Kerr has already turned down a job from another international federation in the hope of taking the reins in South Africa but there are concerns within his camp that speculation on his appointment may well damage his chances.

Romanian-born Ted Dumitru is in temporary charge of the side and could be a candidate to stay there if he has a succesful African Nations campaign.

It is however widely believed that his age (69) and his tempestuous relationship with the suits in the Safa have already ruled him out of the running.

Dumitru is known as the ‘Professor’ by those who have worked with him because of his attention to the technical side of the game, an area where Kerr excelled within ranks of the Irish youth setup.