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Parreira threatened with arrest
12/02/2007 15:45 - (SA)
Johannesburg - South Africa's new national football coach, Carlos Alberto Parreira, was warned on Monday he would be arrested if he tries to turn up at any matches after a bungle over his work permit.
The World Cup-winning Brazilian, hired on a multi-million rand contract to ensure the hosts of the 2010 World Cup put up a good showing on home soil, must not even take notes off the television, said a home affairs ministry spokesperson.
"The law is very clear... Parreira and his assistant (fellow Brazilian Jairo Leal) are not allowed to work until their documentation is sorted out," the spokesperson Mantshele Tau confirmed.
"He is not even allowed to go to the stadium or take notes while watching TV because that amounts to work."
When news emerged on Friday that Parreira had still to secure a work permit, his employers at the South African Football Association (Safa) downplayed the situation and said it was all being sorted out.
However the home affairs ministry is taking a hard line on the coach who won the 1994 World Cup while in charge of his native Brazil, and is now being paid more than R56 000 a day.
"He can't report to Safa offices or hold training sessions," said Tau.
"We have monitoring systems in place and if he is found (working) he will be arrested" while his employers could also be fined.
The 64-year-old signed a four-year deal with Safa more than six months ago, and arrived in the country at the end of January to take up his duties.
He held a three-day training camp in Johannesburg last week with a 23-man squad and has also attended a number of local games to identify potential Bafana Bafana players.
Safa has admitted that it was tardy in beginning the process of applying for employment visas for Parreira and Leal, who entered South Africa as tourists, and are awaiting police and medical documents for the pair.
South Africa has notoriously stringent work visa requirements for foreigners, including detailed medical and police records from their homelands and other places where they have worked.
Parreira has also previously coached in the United States, Turkey, Spain, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Ghana.
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