Banyana Banyana star player Thembi Kgatlana has launched a scathing attack on SAFA for taking the senior women’s team’s concerns lightly.
Thembi Kgatlana expressed her disappointment with SAFA as the association ignored Banyana’s cries about playing their FIFA Women’s World Cup send-off match at Tsakane Stadium.
Banyana opted to boycott the game against Botswana on July 02, leading to chaotic scenes as SAFA was forced to field a makeshift team to honour the international friendly. The association was hoping to avoid further embarrassment or a FIFA sanction by fielding a team made up of youngsters.
Addressing the media on Thursday at a breakfast hosted by Sports Minister Zizi Kodwa to honour Banyana and the Netball Proteas after featuring at their respective World Cups, Kgatlana said SAFA should learn to listen.
Thembi Kgatlana said they stated that the ground at Tsakane Stadium, which is not FIFA-approved, is in poor condition, and Banyana wanted to play on a suitable pitch in preparation for the World Cup.
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KGATLANA SAYS SAFA MUST LEARN TO LISTEN
“This situation could have been solved earlier because we told the federation that we don’t want to play in Tsakane,” said Kgatlana. “It was mainly because of the facilities. You look at Tsakane and the stadiums that we played in at the World Cup, and it is two different things.
“You look at pitches in the Hollywoodbets Super League; it is probably the same standard as Tsakane, but that is not good enough going to the World Cup.
“If we agreed to play at Tsakane, someone would want to trap a ball, and it would go up or down, and people would have criticised us, thinking that we could not even trap the ball. That would not have been a true reflection. It would have been about the facility.
“In Tsakane, the ball bounces four to five times before someone touches it, and in the World Cup, pitches are watered, and the pace of the game and the ball is quick.”
The Banyana vice-captain Kgatlana added: “We said to the federation that we did not want to play at Tsakane because the stadium was not of the same standard as the one we were going to play on a week later at the World Cup.
“I think we were not listened to, and that’s why we took the action of not going to play at Tsakane. The issue was not that we wanted to boycott the match, we wanted to play, but not at Tsakane.
THERE ARE MANY STADUIMS WE COULD HAVE GONE TO PLAY
“There are many stadiums we could have gone to play at outside Gauteng. [SAFA] told us that the issue was pitches were being conditioned in preparation for the PSL season.
“That is not a problem. There are many stadiums in the country, and I don’t want to believe that Tsakane was the only available option for us. It was very sad to see that our demands were not taken seriously, and that’s why we had to do what we did.”
Kgatlana starred at the World Cup as she either scored or had a hand in every Banyana goal as the national team made history.
Banyana became the first South African senior national team to make it past the World Cup group stage in New Zealand and Australia. They lost 2-0 against Netherlands in the last 16.