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The South African
21 hours ago
- Sport
- The South African
Bafana Bafana squad for CHAN tournament announced
The South African Football Association (SAFA) has published Bafana Bafana's squad that will play in the CHAN tournament. The 2024 CAF African Nations Championship (CHAN) tournament will be played from 2-30 August in East Africa. The finals will be hosted in three different countries – Tanzania, Kenya and Uganda – to see their readiness for the 2027 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON). It will be the first time three different countries get to host this tournament at the same time. The opening match will be played in Tanzania while the third/fourth playoff will be staged in Uganda. Kenya will host the final. Now, coach Molefi Ntseki has opted for experience more than anything, giving the majority of unattached local players a chance in his Bafana Bafana squad. The likes of Zakhele Lepasa, Keagan Dolly, Phillip Ndlondlo who recently parted ways with Pirates, Wayde Jooste, Rowan Human and Thabiso Kutumela have made the cut. Ntseki included FIVE Mamelodi Sundowns players in Neo Maema, Terrence Mashego, Malibongwe Khoza, Kegan Johannes and Ntandoyenkosi Nkosi. It is unclear as to whether or not the five players are in Miguel Cardoso's plans for the upcoming season which gets underway on 1 August. Bafana Bafana squad for CHAN finals. Image: @BafanaBafana/X Bafana Bafana are in Group C alongside co-hosts Uganda, Niger, Guinea and Algeria. Group A consists of co-hosts Kenya, Morocco, Angola, Democratic Republic of Congo and Zambia. Finally, Group B has Tanzania, Madagascar, Mauritania, Burkina Faso, Central African Republic. Let us know your thoughts by leaving a comment below, or send a WhatsApp to 060 011 0211 Subscribe to The South African website's newsletters and follow us on WhatsApp, Facebook, X and Bluesky for the latest news.
TimesLIVE
a day ago
- Sport
- TimesLIVE
Sundowns stars beef up who's who of has-beens in Bafana's Chan squad
The South African Football Association has announced the Bafana Bafana squad that will take part in the African Nations Championship (Chan) for local-based teams in East Africa in August. There are a number of recognisable names in the 25-player squad but the amount of players labelled as 'unattached' is an indication of the challenge assembling a local-based national combination to compete in the finals. Almost half the squad — 12 players — are without a club. There are some well-known names among those, though some read like a who's who of has-beens. Unattached players include former Mamelodi Sundowns and Kaizer Chiefs star Keagan Dolly and former Orlando Pirates striker Zakhele Lepasa and former Bucs midfielder Ndabayithethwa Ndlondlo. Other blasts from the past are former Pirates and Bloemfontein Celtic forward Menzi Masuku, former Pirates fullback Wayde Jooste, and former Pirates, Mamelodi Sundowns Richards Bay forward Thabiso Kutumela. Sundowns contribute many of the more current names, though many of these are fringe performers at the Pretoria giants and some have been reported to be on their way out of Masandawana.
CAF
2 days ago
- Sport
- CAF
Nigeria, South Africa unite to visit Salgado after horror injury
A lot can happen in 24 hours. And such is life. For South African defender Gabriela Salgado, the semifinal between the reigning African champions Banyana Banyana and nine-time continental winners at the ongoing TotalEnergies WAFCON 2024 was an exciting opportunity for her to showcase her expertise. On Monday, July 21, Salgado had showed up for the pre-match press conference in high spirits, answered every question asked by the South African, Nigerian and international media at the Larbi Zaouli Stadium in Casablanca. Her vibrant energy was felt throughout the packed press conference room ahead of what has been established as the biggest rivalry in Women's Football in Africa. She spoke with excitement and promised to make South Africa proud. She continuously spoke with positivity pointing at her teammates' togetherness throughout the tournament and what it means for her to finally feature at Africa's biggest showpiece. The 28-year-old, who features for JVW in the South African topflight league, had previously missed out on representing her nation at the WAFCON 2022 in Morocco after she sustained an almost career-ending injury in the week leading up to the tournament. Her presence at the current edition where she started on the bench for Banyana Banyana in their opening two games before earning her spot in the starting lineup speaks to her resilience and never-give-up attitude. 'We know we're going into the semifinal game, it's going to be a challenge, but we are physically and mentally prepared. We know the responsibility we hold, and we just look forward to a good game and hopefully finishing it within the 90 minutes,' Salgado had said prior to the match. Until Salgado's injury, the tie was at 1-1 after an Ajibade penalty opened the scoring for Nigeria before South Africa equalized through a Linda Motlhalo penalty. 'Every game that we play we take our lessons, and we obviously take it into the next game and improving what we learned from that game. Just going into this game, I think the Senegal game of course brought us together as a team, we saw the desire, the hunger in each other's eyes and it brought us just closer together knowing how we'll need each other going into the next game. I think the team is prepared, we're ready, we know what we have to do, and I think everyone is just on the same page and we are excited for the game.' This excitement could be seen when Salgado and her teammates stepped off the bus and sang their way to the away dressing room – full of energy and ready to face the mountain in front of them that was Nigeria. But as fate would have it, Salgado suffered a horrific injury. The reaction of both sets of players alerted those watching the game inside the Larbi Zaouli Stadium and across the world. Hands on their heads, some in tears, others with their heads to the grass and some took to the technical benches for comfort. The South African Football Association (SAFA) has released a statement with the Banyana Banyana doctor Lindi Mokoena saying, 'Gabi [Salgado] sustained a fracture of the mid-shaft of her left leg during the fixture against Nigeria and underwent a successful surgery at the Mohamed VI University Hospital in Casablanca. She will be out of action for the rest of the year, but we are pleased that she received exceptional care from the medical team of Banyana Banyana, CAF and the hospital. We were fully confident and comfortable with the procedure being performed in Morocco and would like to extend our heartfelt gratitude to CAF and the dedicated staff at the Mohamed VI University Hospital for their professionalism and outstanding support during this time.' Ramaphosa Message of Support South African President Cyril Ramaphosa sent a message of support to Salgado saying, 'Today, our thoughts are with Banyana Banyana's @G_Salgado9 as we wish Gabriela a comfortable and speedy recovery from her traumatic injury in last night's WAFCON semi-final against a victorious Nigeria. I know you're a woman of deep and public faith, Gabriela, and you're a woman of bravery and skill on the pitch. The nation wishes you well. Casablanca was always going to be a tough ask for our national team as Africa's defending champions and Nigeria's breakthrough in referee's optional proved this. We are confident Banyana Banyana will regroup and return to WAFCON as future champs. We wish Nigeria's Super Falcons and Morocco's Atlas Lionesses well for Saturday's dream home final for the host nation.' Today, our thoughts are with Banyana Banyana's @G_Salgado9 as we wish Gabriela a comfortable and speedy recovery from her traumatic injury in last night's WAFCON semi-final against a victorious Nigeria. I know you're a woman of deep and public faith, Gabriela, and you're a woman… — Cyril Ramaphosa 🇿🇦 (@CyrilRamaphosa) July 23, 2025 Nigeria Super Falcons visit Salgado In pure show of class and sportswomanship, the Super Falcons of Nigeria showed up at the Mohamed VI University Hospital in Casablanca to visit Salgado after sending messages to her on social media across several platforms. Fans across the world have praised this visit as a showcase of humanity and how football brings the world together. As the great icon of South Africa Nelson Mandela once said, 'Sport has the power to change the world. It has the power to inspire. It has the power to unite people in a way that little else does.' Nigeria and South Africa have met a record 12 times at the WAFCON.
IOL News
2 days ago
- Sport
- IOL News
SAFA sets sights on BT Academy over trip to Spain
Cape Town group representing South Africa at the Donosti Cup in Spain. Image: Supplied THE South African Football Association (SAFA) has distanced itself from sanctioning BT Football Academy's trip to Spain where more than 30 children were left stranded after not having return tickets. 'We wish to place on record that this tour was not sanctioned by SAFA Cape Town or the South African Football Association (SAFA) at national level. Ordinarily, applications like this would come from Cape Town to National and no such application was forwarded to National,' Safa Cape Town told the SABC. The association has also confirmed that an investigation into the matter was underway. 'BT Academy used to belong to the Two Oceans Local Football Association as a member of SAFA Cape Town; they subsequently resigned to go to Cape Winelands. I spoke to the president of SAFA Cape Winelands earlier today to enquire and also to do some homework because if you don't belong on this side, you may belong somewhere,' the SABC quoted SAFA Cape Town president Bennet Bailey as saying. The group of 13 to 19-year-olds and their coaches had participated in the Donosti Cup 2025 in Spain where they did well and had a positive experience until the date they were set to depart on July 16. The group did not return and the following day their parents learned they needed to pay an extra R15 000 to secure return flights home. Video Player is loading. Play Video Play Unmute Current Time 0:00 / Duration -:- Loaded : 0% Stream Type LIVE Seek to live, currently behind live LIVE Remaining Time - 0:00 This is a modal window. Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window. Text Color White Black Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Background Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Transparent Window Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Transparent Semi-Transparent Opaque Font Size 50% 75% 100% 125% 150% 175% 200% 300% 400% Text Edge Style None Raised Depressed Uniform Dropshadow Font Family Proportional Sans-Serif Monospace Sans-Serif Proportional Serif Monospace Serif Casual Script Small Caps Reset restore all settings to the default values Done Close Modal Dialog End of dialog window. Advertisement Video Player is loading. Play Video Play Unmute Current Time 0:00 / Duration -:- Loaded : 0% Stream Type LIVE Seek to live, currently behind live LIVE Remaining Time - 0:00 This is a modal window. Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window. Text Color White Black Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Background Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Transparent Window Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Transparent Semi-Transparent Opaque Font Size 50% 75% 100% 125% 150% 175% 200% 300% 400% Text Edge Style None Raised Depressed Uniform Dropshadow Font Family Proportional Sans-Serif Monospace Sans-Serif Proportional Serif Monospace Serif Casual Script Small Caps Reset restore all settings to the default values Done Close Modal Dialog End of dialog window. Next Stay Close ✕ While some of the players have returned home, some 28 are staying in Lisbon, Portugal, expected to return by Thursday. They had paid a total fee of R50 000 that was supposed to be all inclusive of food, transport, accommodation and flights. After parents reached out for help, South Africans came on board including the Tracey Lange Cares (TLC) initiative and Shantelle Engelbrecht from the Facebook page Coloured Girls Rock, to facilitate the return of the group. Senior pastors Dane and Tersia Mesane from Christ Culture Church said they made the final payment to Lange and her team for all 28 flight tickets at 2.55pm, with full confirmation received from the travel agent by 6.28pm. Some of the group were expected to return on two flights landing on Wednesday and one on Thursday. A Kraaifontein father of a 13-year-old said: 'I am very much excited, just wanting him to get home, wanting the rest of the kids to get home safe and sound. Everybody had to stand together and we had to agree on one common goal which was getting the kids home but I was shocked how quick everything happened, everything blew up yesterday (Monday) but us as parents we've been dealing with the chairman of the club since last week Thursday when he initially asked us for the additional funds.' BT Academy cited delayed visa appointments as the reason it failed to book return flights in time, leading to unaffordable prices and leaving the group of 38 stranded. Weighing in on the matter, a travel agent, who asked to remain anonymous, said the biggest question was how the children were able to board their flights and enter Spain without producing return tickets. 'While a visa application doesn't require an actual purchased ticket, some embassies are strict. They'll call the airline or hotel to confirm bookings. In this case, they could have gotten dummy itineraries just for the visa application. But the biggest question is, how did the airline check them in on a one-way ticket? Even when flying from South Africa to Kenya, travellers are often denied boarding without a return ticket. European countries are especially strict. And once they got to Spain, how did immigration allow them through? Maybe return tickets were booked, which got through airport checks, then cancelled later," the travel agent said. BT Football Academy did not respond to further requests for comment. The Consulate General of Spain in Cape Town also did not respond to requests for comment by deadline. Cape Times
The South African
18-07-2025
- Politics
- The South African
'We ask Treasury to shift money to SAFA for VAR'
Sports Minister Gayton McKenzie has requested the National Treasury to allocate funds to the South African Football Association for the implementation of the Video Assistant Referee (VAR) system. For over a year, McKenzie has been promising to introduce VAR to help minimise mistakes in South African top-flight football. Last year, he announced that R80 million had been set aside for the project. However, in his latest update, McKenzie revealed that no money has been reserved for VAR. 'We are also finalising the process of funding VAR to ensure that football matches, from the Premier Soccer League through to the international fixtures we host, are fairer and meet global standards,' McKenzie told the parliament this week. 'It is a necessity. We see stadiums vandalised when bad refereeing happens, and the success of teams like Mamelodi Sundowns makes global teams want to play here. 'But they get second thoughts because we don't have VAR,' he concluded. Earlier this year, Gayton promised football fans that VAR would be implemented in April, with a budget of R80 million set to be allocated. 'We could never pay for VAR without budget having been passed, that would have been corruption. We are in the process of asking Treasury to shift money to SAFA according to our budget. VAR is coming. The money is available,' McKenzie wrote on on X (Twitter) on Friday. Football fans were not happy with Gayton's latest statement, feeling that the minister had misled the nation when he 'promised VAR in April'. 'Different tune every week. Just simple tell us if PSL will have VAR this season or not? Why Bafana Bafana national sponsor Castle and HONOR come on board to sponsor VAR like what FNB do to rugby, they are behind TMO,' tweeted @mminakgomotrevo. 'Instead of taking responsibility, you're shifting the blame. It's a good thing that the budget wasn't approved. YOU said we would have VAR this season and didn't mention this budget part,' tweeted @baahlemsweli. 'VAR we won't use it this season, bafo, Gayton lied to us,' @peterbroggs tweeted. Let us know by leaving a comment below, or send a WhatsApp to 060 011 0211. Subscribe to The South African website's newsletters and follow us on WhatsApp, Facebook, X and Bluesky for the latest news.
