Serero in new club vs country row
Club ignoring Bafana’s request
There is one thing Bafana Bafana coach Stuart Baxter will not tolerate: clubs depriving players the opportunity to represent the national team.
Speaking ahead of the trip to Cape Verde, Baxter commented on Thulani Serero whose Dutch club Vitesse Arnhem claim he is injured.
Serero missed Vitesse’s match against AZ Alkmaar on Saturday and is doubtful for Bafana’s 2018 World Cup qualifier against Cape Verde on Friday (8.30pm SA time).
Vitesse, though, have failed to hand over medical evidence to the SA Football Association’s medical team.
“You hope that when you call up a player there is a desire on his part to represent his national team and from the club, an understanding of that desire and the willingness to cooperate,” Baxter said.
“We get some strange decisions made by the clubs that don’t really smack of cooperation and this is an example.
“Vitesse told our medical department that Thulani has a hamstring injury, therefore can’t play. But [we asked], can you supply us with the MRI [scan] and they said, ‘No, we haven’t done one’.
Under Fifa rules, “A player who due to injury or illness is unable to comply with a callup from the association that he is eligible to represent on the basis of his nationality shall, if the association so requires, agree to undergo a medical examination by a doctor of that association’s choice”.
In this case, Serero should be assessed by Bafana’s team doctor.
Bafana’s European-based players will fly directly to Cape Verde to save them from the long trips.