After serving South African football with distinction for the past 21 years, former Safa Technical Director of women’s football Fran Hilton-Smith appears to have some reservations about her forced retirement.
Speaking on the sidelines of the Cosafa Women’s Championships in Port Elizabeth where she’s part of the Technical Study Group, Hilton-Smith alleges that she was forced to retire by Safa at the end of May 2019.
The financial situation at the SA football mother body has been widely publicised recently.
Hilton-Smith has served in various positions at Safa for the 21-year period, having joined the organisation back in 1994. She looks back at her achievements during her time at Safa House.
Safa policy is that at 60, employees have to retire and Hilton-Smith turned 66 in 2019.
She’s not the only one who allegedly has been forced to take retirement, but also the longest-serving Bafana Bafana Team Manager Barney Kujane. She still had dreams of driving the women’s game in other areas.
As part of Technical Study Group for the Cosafa senior Women’s Champs and the inaugural U20 women’s tournament, Hilton-Smith assesses the standard of the tournaments currently underway at the Gelvandale and Wolfson stadia in Port Elizabeth.
– Report by Velile Mnyandu
