Clubs agree to send players to World Cup
SuperSport and Wits trio likely to join Amajita later after Safa, clubs strike deal
An agreement for three PSL players to be released for the Fifa Under-20 World Cup in South Korea will be reached between the SA Football Association and the clubs concerned.
Bidvest Wits and SuperSport United have been refusing to release their players for the global tournament that starts on May 20, arguing that their players will play a key role in the remaining local competitions.
Wits have been reluctant to release Phakamani Mahlambi and Reeve Frosler, while SuperSport have been playing hard ball with midfielder Teboho Mokoena.
The clubs appeared before the Safa disciplinary committee yesterday but the parties agreed to settle the matter amicably.
It’s more likely that the concerned players will join Amajita – who left last night for South Korea minus the three – at a later stage.
“The DC was postponed because it has been decided that we can come to an agreement outside of a DC. That is what’s probably going to happen [players joining the team at a later stage],” said Safa spokesman Dominic Chimhavi yesterday.
SuperSport coach Stuart Baxter is in a catch-22 situation.
He’s joining Safa next month as the new Bafana Bafana coach, but he has been reluctant to let Mokoena go, citing injuries to his squad.
“If I make a comment on that it’s sort of one foot in Safa and one foot in SuperSport. I’m talking from experience. I had an under-20 tournament in England, where 15 players were pulled away from me.
“Every club should try and help the national team, [but] the situation we have at the moment is that we have 17 fit players and we had 18 [against Cape Town City].”
He added: “We would love to allow our players to have the experience of a World Cup. But... you don’t want to sacrifice a long, hard season.”