Has the authority of full time manager Ephraim 'Shakes' Mashaba been undermined as a result?

Top players like Quinton Fortune, Lucas Radebe, Shaun Bartlett and Benni McCarthy will now be in the Bafana-Bafana squad against England.

Jomo Sono has taken temporary charge of the side, with Mashaba left in the lurch, after insisting on fielding a team largely made up of domestic players.

Mashaba shuns top stars

But by asking Sono to take charge of Thursday's game, has the South African FA not undermined Mashaba's authority over the national team?

Should Mashaba resign his job as SA coach, after his right to pick the squad has been overruled by the FA?

Have Your Say using the form on the right.

Having watched the local players in action this season, I strongly feel Safa was right. Mashaba named players that were going to embarrass him in the end. I think he is a dull coach
Manfred, South Africa

I love a coach with such strength of character. No one can just stroll into the national team and think that he has an automatic shirt. I hope Mashaba stays as coach of South Africa and develops new talent for the national team.
Moses Malik, Jos, Nigeria.

I can only say it's a shame for Mr. Jordaan to blatantly say it is their prerogative to decide on the squad to play England. Their action will dent 'Shakes' credibility and integrity.
Mojaki Bonno Mojaki, Canada/Botswana

If Mashaba feels his ego has been deflated he is free to throw in the towel. Ordinarily, Safa wants the best for South Africa and Mashaba's grouse with some Bafana Bafana players should not stand in the way of the country.Playing a crop of wholly untested players could give England the opportunity to humiliate one of Africa's best sides right on their ground. If England could be using their best for the match why won't South Africa do the same? That is the bottom line and not that Jomo is taking over Mashaba's job.
Patrick Omorodion, Lagos, Nigeria

What Mashaba did is courageous. However that doesn't make him right in what he has done. It is hard to believe that all the pool of stars are estranged. Leaving them out of the team does not necessarily solve the problem but I believe he wanted to show them who was in control. Having said that, the FA should have backed him up regardless. But the integrity of the job/position itself is now in doubt
Matibini Matibini, Philadelphia, USA

Shakes has not got the interest of the country at heart. The same Coach declined to add three overaged players for the Olympics while all other countries were doing that. He has a problem working with high profile players.The 2010 bid is of paramount importance for SA and Shakes seem not to care about that. He is only interested in himself and what some people calls "principle". Thank God he is on his way out.
Xolie Skosana, Pretoria (South Africa)

Welcome to anarchy. As a South African, I am not surprised by the recent developments within our football association. Safa has undermined the integrity of Mashaba, who has been stabbed in the back by Jomo Sono, who in the name of "serving his country" decided to coach the team against England. Safa's adminstration is incompetent and lack management skills. In a nutshell, Safa has mastered the theatre of the absurd.
Masibulele, South Africa

I admire Shakes stand and believe he should resign. What will happen when SA qualifies for the World Cup and he has to select a team ? How will he now coach the overseas based players? How is it that some of the players are available now when they earlier couldn't play for the country? Safa should be blamed for all the confusion.
Zee, Johannesburg, South Africa

Power without authority is just useless. How can Safa give a job to a person and then take over when it just suits you? Mashaba must quit the job for his own good. Safa has shown that his job is not safe.
Sibusiso Nhangombe, South Africa

Mashaba should resign and he will be the hero of African soccer. Why should African coaches field bench warmers in Europe and leave out first team players in South Africa? WHY? Jomo Sono should be ashamed of replacing his fellow coach.This is a disgrace to soccer and Africa.
Gonansa, Uganda

Shakes should indeed resign. Safa is most unprincipled. There are players who have refused to help their country in crucial matches and now they are imposed onto the team. Someone like Quinton Fortune, who is permanently on the bench at Manchester United, refuses to travel home to help his country but now has time to play for Bafana-Bafana. What a joke! As for Jomo Sono, he should be ashamed that he is being used to undermine a colleague.
Geoffrey Luyuku, Kenya

As a South African, I am very encouraged to note that fellow Africans support Shakes. It is long overdue that African FA`s call the bluff of our overseas players.You only have to look at the attitude of French and Brazilian players to see that our players are not pulling on the side of their countries when it comes to the club vs country conflict.
Zweli, South Africa

The shocking events involving the national team demonstrates the total incompetence and immorality of Safa. The changes and/or wrongs in Mashaba's selection of players could have been resolved in a professional and constructive manner by involving the Technical Committee. Instead, to empower themselves with technical authority, the administrators dismissed their and delivered a "fatal blow" to Mashaba's authority. Incredibly as it may sound, Safa is probably the only FA to operate without any technical structure. The decisions are controlled or made by Irvin Khoza, the chairman of the 2010 WC bid committee.
Marcus Themba, S Africa

I have been following this issue of Mashaba and the Bafana-Bafana for some time. While there's no doubt that Mashaba is a quality coach, I think he dug his own grave. He should have known that this is a high quality friendly match and South Africa needs to advertise itself for the 2010 World Cup. It is wise to use big football names like Lucas Radebe. While I support the idea of using local players, it's good to use the likes of Fortune.
Killian Mabhena, Slovakia (Zimbabwean)

I thought about this long and hard. I think it's a difficult one. I don't condone these guys coming and going when they like it. It's disrespectful. But Mashaba on the other hand must not allow personality clashes get in the way of a good team. He can't just tar everybody with the same brush! It's not all the overseas guys that have been difficult. Or behaved like prima donnas, to be exact.
Bonile Ngqiyaza, Johannesburg, South Africa

It is once again a sad day for the international growth of football in Africa. Mashaba should by all means retire and not give in to this fiasco. No player is bigger than their coach.
Bwabwa, USA

I doubt that soccer in Africa can grow given the the continuous interference of local FA's in the selection of national teams. I am hailing the principled stand of Mr Mashaba and would advise that he goes further to resign. His knowledge of local South African soccer is not in doubt and he can survive without the patronage of Safa. Jomo Sono should stop being an eternal stand-in coach.
Motunrayo Adetola, Canada/South Africa

I salute the courage of Bafana Bafana's embattled coach Ephraim 'Shakes' Mashaba to do what was right, even though he has lost out in the power struggle. I conscientiously followed the events that led to Mashaba's decision to leave out the England-based players from Thursday's game against England. I understood he was convinced that those players, as well as Spanish-based Benni McCarthy, lacked the will to deliver the kind of result he desired and I was convinced he took his decision in the best interest of South Africa. So, if Safa has thought otherwise, we can only await outcome of the South Africa/England clash before drawing our conclusion. If you ask, I believe this eleventh hour drafting of Jomo Sono is needless, as it would address nothing and settle nothing.
Afolabi Gambari, Lagos, Nigeria

It is shabby to replace the coach for not inviting some foreign based players for the friendly against England. It is also setting the wrong precedent. No players, no matter how good they are, above the authority of the coach.
Obaraeze Uba, Germany/Nigeria

Shakes should have realised that this is no ordinary international friendly. He dug his own grave.
Getrude Taruvinga, Birmingham, UK

The South African FA is just like some dictators in Africa who interfere with the duties of their subordinates at will. Mashaba is a hero and a stict disciplinarian. Africa needs people who instill discipline into the heads of professionals who turn down invitations to play for their countries for flimsy excuses. He should not resign.
Sylvester Amara Lamin, Hamilton, New Zealand

Mashaba should remain as coach. He is the only coach who dares to select players based on performance instead of media pressure. He sees the importance of mixing his team with foreign and home-based players. Furthermore, he do not give any special treatment to high profile players. It is a mistake to temporarily remove him as head coach.
Bill Foko, Bunnik, The Netherlands

Safa`s action is disgraceful. So foreign based players are bigger than their nation? Welcome to anarchy for South Adrican football. The question to be asked is if Mashaba were a foreigner, would Safa have taken this decision?
Charles Dafe, Scarborough, UK

So, the powers that be at the South African Football Association are now appointing coaches on a game by game basis. What guarantee is there that Shakes will be in charge for the next game? Honestly this is downright crazy and I urge Mr. Mashaba not to be part of this circus by tendering his resignation.
David Madzivanyika, Zimbabwe