We didn t bungle camp Safa

THE ABC Motsepe league end-of-season play-offs are set to get under way in Kimberley, Northern Cape, on Monday when nine clubs battle it out to win promotion to the National First Division.

The play-offs will be played at Galeshewe Stadium, De Beers Stadium and Abass Stadium and the winners from the two groups will be promoted to the NFD.

The two top teams will meet in the final to play for the R1-million prize money sponsored by mining magnet and Mamelodi Sundowns president Patrice Motsepe.

‘‘ We are trying to contribute by giving our youth a future. We also want to contribute in improving the standard of football in South Africa,” Motsepe said yesterday at the draw for the play-offs in Midrand. “I am very happy that there is a passion for developing the youth.”

Last season Highlands Park and Cape Town All Stars won promotion from the ABC Motsepe League and both sides did well in their first season in the second tier. Play-offs draw GROUP A Milford FC (KwaZulu-Natal), Glendene United (Western Cape), Mbombela United (Mpumalanga), African All Stars (Gauteng), Roses United (Free State) GROUP B Kurumane Kicks/Hungry Lions (Northern Cape), North West Shining Stars (North West), Magesi FC (Limpopo), Mthatha Bucks (Eastern Cape) THE South African Football Association has refuted claims that the national under-17 team’s departure for a camp in France and Belgium was delayed by an administrative error.

It was reported last week that the team’s trip had been cancelled because an unnamed Safa official had not applied for the players’ visas and the birth certificates now required to be carried by minors for international travel.

But Safa spokesman Dominic Chimhavi says this is not true and that the delay in the team’s departure is for footballing reasons.

“It was decided that we would delay departure because the Safa national championships in the under-17 age group were only completed on Sunday,” Chimhavi told Sowetan yesterday.

“The best players from that tournament will now link up with the national squad currently in camp in KwaZulu-Natal and the coach [Molefi Ntseki] will assess all the players together.

“We want to go to the World Cup in Chile with the best possible players, so it makes sense that the coach gets the opportunity to look at the top players from our national championships before he plans his way forward. ”

That said, Chimhavi could not commit to a new date for the camp in Europe, if it happens at all.

The spanner in the works now is that Safa will find it hard to pry the players away from their educational commitments, which is why the original camp was planned for the school holidays.

It is the first time South Africa have qualified for the Under-17 World Cup after finishing runners-up to Mali at the African Under-17 Championship in Niger in March.

The Under-17 World Cup begins in Santiago on October 17.