South Africa's head coach Molefi Ntseki
South Africa's head coach Molefi Ntseki has revealed a possible plan B for his 26-man squad for the AFCON qualifiers against Ghana and Sudan.
South Africa has been deemed to be a red zone and most clubs in Europe would have to quarantine their players if they play there. This is the same for the Bafana Bafana players.
In an interview with the South African press, Ntseki revealed a plan to avoid an enforced quarantine for those players when they return to their clubs.
“FIFA issued a circular that clubs can decide whether or not they will allow their players to leave for international duty due to Covid. I had spoken to all overseas based players to assess the situation and we had agreed to revisit their concerns after the call-up letters were issued,” Ntseki told the Siya crew.
“Most of them did not have concerns, except for Dean because his club has said they can’t release him. It think is it also due to their fixture congestion.”
“Percy and Bongani are meeting with their respective clubs tomorrow and I will then engage with the players so that if we make any other arrangements, they’ve given us the go-ahead. If the issue is coming to SA, we can always compromise having them here for the Ghana game and then only meet up in Sudan for the second match,” the coach explained.
“The issue is that SA is in the red zone, but Sudan isn’t and they can then go back to the UK from Sudan. But that decision will be taken by the club and we will have to negotiate with them regarding any plans. We can possibly have 23 players for the Ghana game and then the full quota in Sudan.”
