Western Cape Govt: “We Need to Prevent Academies Like These” After Kids Stranded Abroad
- Western Cape schoolchildren stranded in Portugal after a youth football tournament, sparking outrage and concern
- Sports MEC Ricardo Mackenzie slammed BT Football Academy for bypassing official channels and threatened legal action over the mishandled tour
- Community-led fundraising campaign successfully raised money to fly the children back home, with the first batch having arrived on Wednesday, 23 July 2025
Western Cape Sports MEC Ricardo Mackenzie alleges that the academy behind the tournament in Spain and Portugal did not follow the proper channels to organise the trip.
This came out after 25 schoolchildren from Cape Town got stranded in Portugal after the academy failed to secure return flights.
Source: Getty Images
The children were part of a tour with BT Football Academy and had taken part in the prestigious Donosti Cup, a grassroots football tournament held annually in San Sebastián, Spain, during the first week of July.
The tournament draws teams from football clubs, schools, academies, and educational institutions worldwide.
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What are the parents saying?
However, after the tournament, the group faced difficulties returning to South Africa. One of the children’s guardians shed light on how the trip was organised.
“Last year, they were chosen on merit to join the tour. They told us what it was going to cost, and we were given enough time to fundraise,” the grandmother explained, as quoted by IOL.
Watch the video below:
Mackenzie said that he is more than willing to do everything in his power to ensure that the academy answers for the debacle, even if it means laying a criminal complaint.
"So there's an incredible series of events that we, as government, will need to investigate and prevent, academies like these, who didn’t go through any formal structure like SAFA or any other organisation to get their hands on some of these international tours. And obviously, these are not sanctioned tours..."
Watch the video below:
Fundraising efforts are in place to remedy the situation
In response to the crisis, Cape Town-based radio presenter Tracey Lange took swift action to help the stranded group.
Through her Tracey Lange Cares initiative, and with the support of the Facebook community Coloured Girls Rock, where she is an admin, Lange spearheaded a fundraising campaign to bring the children home.
"We can confirm that we have managed to raise the funds to pay for all 28 flight tickets and, with the assistance of TAAG, have secured seats on flights within the next few days. Everyone will be home by the end of the week," Lange announced in a Facebook post.
The first group of players landed at the Cape Town International Airport on Wednesday.
Source: Facebook
What is BT Football Academy saying?
BT Football Academy has since released a statement explaining the challenges they faced, citing financial constraints as the primary reason they couldn’t bring the children home on the originally planned date of July 15.
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Proofreading by Roxanne Dos Ramos, copy editor at Briefly.co.za.
Source: Briefly News
