Photo Credit - Bafana Bafana - South Africa.
Bafana Bafana coach Hugo Broos has admitted to being frustrated as he prepares his side to face Benin in their 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifying fixture at the Stade Félix Houphouët Boigny in Abidjan, Ivory Coast, on Tuesday.
The South African national was not able to get access to train at match venue a day prior to the fixture and this was as a result of another qualifying fixture involving Ivory Coast against Gambia that was being played at the same venue.
The decision did not go down well with the Belgian tactician, who was left upset because the visiting team is entitled to a training session of up to one hour on the pitch where the match is to take place, on the day before the match.
“First of all, I have to tell you that I’m really not satisfied with the decision that we can’t have a pre-match training in the stadium where the game takes place. I think this is a FIFA rule, that every team has the right to have a preliminary training before the game of 60 minutes in the stadium where you play, where the match takes place,” Broos told SAFA website.
“I don’t understand. I understand it because there is another game. But this is bad when people who make the rules don’t follow the rules. Will that have an influence on the game? I don’t know. But I know if tomorrow after the game I’m not at the press conference, there will be a sanction.
“So we have to follow the rules. Where are the rules now? And you will tell me, yes, that’s for both teams. I don’t think so. I think Berlin has already trained in that stadium because they were here before us.
“So it’s all nice to say, follow the rules, follow this. We have to follow everything. But we have the right to train today in the stadium where the match takes place, and we can’t. And this is not honest and this is not correct.”
Bafana will go into the matchday six fixture having beaten Lesotho 2-0 while Benin drew 2-2 against Zimbabwe. Bafana are currently topping Group C with 10 points from five outings while Benin are second with eight.
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