Sono u-turn as he stays on as South Africa coach

Updated: Thursday July 04, 2002 04:46 a.m. ET

JOHANNESBURG, July 4 (Reuters) - South African coach Jomo Sono has agreed to stay on until the end of the Cosafa Castle Cup just a day after announcing he was resigning.

The 46-year-old Sono, who took South Africa to the World Cup finals, had said on Wednesday he could not continue on because of commitments to Jomo Cosmos, the South African premier league club he owns.

The change of heart came after a meeting with South African Football Association vice president Irvin Khoza in Johannesburg, officials said.

South Africa play Madagascar in a Cosafa Castle Cup quarter-final tie in Port Elizabeth on July 21, with Sono due to announce his squad next week.

Should South Africa go on to reach the final of the competition, the annual southern African championship, Sono would remain in charge until September and for another six games.

Earlier Sono had recommended his assistant Trott Moloto and Ephraim 'Shakes' Mashaba, coach of South Africa's under-23 team at the 2000 Olympics, as replacements.

Moloto is a former head coach of the national side, holding the post for two years until September 2000 when he was replaced by the Portuguese trainer Carlos Queiroz and downgraded to assistant. Queiroz was replaced after he refused to accept an increased role for Sono in team affairs.

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