Banyana Banyana Striker Speaks Out About SAFA Not Taking the Team Seriously and Boycotting the Botswana Game

• Banyana Banyana striker Thembi Kgatlana criticised Safa for not taking the team seriously before the World Cup
• The players had raised concerns about playing their World Cup send-off match against Botswana at Tsakane Stadium in Ekurhuleni, two weeks before the World Cup kick-off
• According to the striker, the stadium was not up to standard and the pitch was in poor condition hence why the team boycotted the match

Thembi Kgatlana, a striker for the South African women's national football team, Banyana Banyana, has criticised the South African Football Association (SAFA) for not taking the team seriously before their World Cup journey.

Thembi Kgatlana explains why Banyana Banyana Boycotted game in Tsakane

According to The South African, Kgatlana said that the players had raised concerns about playing their World Cup send-off match against Botswana at Tsakane Stadium in Ekurhuleni, two weeks before the World Cup kick-off. She said that the stadium was not up to standard and that the pitch was in poor condition.

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According to the Sowetan, there were chaotic scenes when Banyana boycotted the match on July 2, with Safa opting to field a makeshift South African team to honour the international friendly and save themselves from further embarrassment or a sanction from Fifa.

“This situation could have been solved earlier because we told the federation that we don’t want to play in Tsakane.

"It was mainly because of the facilities, you look at Tsakane and the stadiums that we played in at the World Cup and it is two different things," said Kgatlana during a media briefing at a breakfast hosted by Sports Minister Zizi Kodwa to recognise Banyana and the Netball Proteas after playing at their respective World Cups.

Kgatlana claims SAFA does not take the team seriously

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Kgatlana said that she felt they were not listened to by SAFA and that's why they decided against playing at Tsakane.

"The issue was not that we wanted to boycott the match, we wanted to play, but not at Tsakane.

“There are many stadiums we could have gone to play at outside Gauteng. [Safa] told us that the issue was pitches were being conditioned in preparation for the coming [South African domestic] season."

Despite the challenges, Banyana Banyana made history by reaching the round of 16 in the recently concluded Women's World Cup. They are the first South African senior national team to progress past the group stage of a FIFA World Cup.

South Africa divided over Banyana Banyana players refusing media interviews

In another story, Briefly News reported that South Africans have mixed reactions to Banyana Banyana refusing to give journalists interviews when they touched down earlier this week.

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In response, Banyana Banyana national coach Desiree Ellis has spoken out about Banyana Banyana giving the media the cold shoulder.

She said she had no idea why the national team refused to grant journalists interviews.

Source: Briefly News