No change in venue for Bafana, Ghana game

SA Football Association (Safa) CEO Tebogo Motlanthe is adamant Bafana Bafana’s Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) qualifier against Ghana will be played at Johannesburg’s FNB Stadium on March 25 as planned and this will not change.

Motlanthe moved swiftly to dismiss claims that the game could be played outside SA due to the Ghanaians’ Covid-19 fears and lashed out at news outlets that have said the West Africans asked the Confederation of African Football (Caf) to move the match to a neutral venue.

“To put it on the record‚ I have been talking to the secretary of the Ghana FA where we were discussing this important match between us and them in SA.

“Nobody has at any stage mentioned that the Ghana FA doesn’t want to play in SA — it’s only the media‚” said Motlanthe.

“The match between Bafana and Ghana is going to take place at Soccer City on March 25 and we have received all communication from Caf to this effect.

“I don’t want to comment on hearsay and please don’t refer me to a certain website which you are seeing for the first time. The problems with South Africans is that we want to believe whatever news we come across.”

Motlanthe said reports claiming the Ghanaians want to move the match to a neutral venue were misinformation as none of the purveyors of those stories have produced proof of this. “I ask anyone to say give me a letter from Caf to Safa stating that Ghana wants to move the match. Ghana may stand up and say that this is fake news because we have never received any complaint from Ghana [in] this regard.”

This match is a must-win for Bafana as three points will see them overtake Ghana at the top of their group with 12 points and almost certainly ensure qualification to the Afcon in Cameroon in 2022.

The claims gained credence after Morocco and Algeria recently denied Kaizer Chiefs and Mamelodi Sundowns entry to their countries for Champions League matches against Wydad Casablanca and CR Belouizdad.

The match between Chiefs and Wydad was played at a neutral venue in Burkina Faso with Amakhosi handed a 4-0 hiding by the Morrocans. Sundowns in turn thrashed CR Belouizdad 5-1 in Tanzania.

Bafana coach Molefi Ntseki will announce the squad at a media briefing at Safa House in Johannesburg on Thursday that will face Ghana and Sudan.