Former Bafana Bafana Staffer Reveals Shocking World Cup Problems: ‘SAFA Gave Us One Kit’
- Former Bafana Bafana goalkeeper coach Grant Johnson spoke out about the team's troubled 2026 FIFA World Cup build-up
- Johnson claimed technical staff were handed just one T-shirt, one tracksuit and a pair of shorts for the entire tournament
- The ex-Orlando Pirates goalkeeper compared the World Cup preparations unfavourably to Bafana's 2023 AFCON bronze medal campaign
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Former Bafana Bafana goalkeeper coach Grant Johnson has gone public with a shocking account of South Africa's preparations for the 2026 FIFA World Cup, pointing to kit shortages, visa delays and poor organisation as evidence of a build-up that fell well short of expectations.
Johnson, who served on the technical staff alongside head coach Hugo Broos and Helman Mkhalele, shared his experience in an interview with Peter Du Toit on Soccerbeat, describing the tournament's behind-the-scenes handling as the worst he had encountered in his time with the national team.
**Visa Delays and a Chaotic Departure**
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According to Johnson, the difficulties began before Bafana even boarded a flight to Mexico, with visa complications causing disruptions to the team's travel arrangements. He contrasted the atmosphere with South Africa's 2010 FIFA World Cup and Confederations Cup campaigns, describing those tournaments as occasions where staff felt genuinely valued.
"I've been there during the Confederation Cup and World Cup (2010) before and back then, it just felt different. We were spoilt. We were given gifts and lots of kit and they just made you feel special. They made you feel like you were going to a special tournament," Johnson said.
**One Kit for Four Days at the World Cup**
The most striking revelation concerned the technical team's match-day clothing. Johnson explained that sponsorship restrictions meant all branded logos had to be removed from training and matchday gear in the lead-up to the tournament's opening fixture. The solution provided left staff wearing identical outfits for four consecutive days.
"When we got to the World Cup for the first game, we got given kit which didn't have logos on. I was given one T-shirt, one tracksuit and a pair of shorts. So we had to wear that for four days," Johnson said. He added that even Broos eventually refused the arrangement, opting to wear his own sponsored jerseys in protest.
Johnson noted that while not every problem lay at the feet of the South African Football Association (SAFA), many of the issues were preventable. He also pointed out that Bafana's 2023 Africa Cup of Nations campaign, which ended with a bronze medal, carried a greater sense of occasion than the World Cup build-up despite football's global showpiece being the sport's biggest stage.
Johnson believes that addressing logistical details of this nature is essential if the national team's players and technical staff are to direct their full focus towards performance when competing at the highest level.
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Source: Briefly News
