Fumbling SAFA costs Bafana Bafana points

Lesotho has just defeated the high-performing South African men's team, Bafana Bafana. This outcome was not decided on the pitch, but rather in the boardroom of FIFA, the world's governing body.

As a result, the tiny mountain kingdom has been awarded three points for their match against the South African men's team, a decision made by FIFA due to an administrative error by the South African Football Association (SAFA). This has severely impacted Bafana Bafana's World Cup campaign.

South Africa, which had been comfortably leading Group C of the qualifiers, now has two games remaining and needs to win both convincingly with a high goal difference to overtake the new group leader, Benin.

This embarrassing situation stems from a match played approximately six months ago between South Africa and Lesotho. Although South Africa won the game 2-0, midfielder Teboho Mokoena, who had accumulated two yellow cards, was fielded despite being ineligible to play due to a match suspension. This oversight by those responsible for checking player eligibility is a significant blunder for the national team.

Adding to the concern is the fact that SAFA and the Sports Ministry remained silent on the issue until FIFA recently requested an explanation for fielding an ineligible player. While the Sports Minister now intends to investigate, this might not be beneficial for our World Cup qualification quest.

Bafana Bafana needs to stay focused on earning the remaining six points and hope that Nigeria can hinder Benin's chances of topping the group to secure an automatic World Cup spot. We had control of our destiny for a World Cup berth, but administrative incompetence has put us at a disadvantage.

As we continue to support the team, we urge the Sports Minister to take decisive action and appoint competent individuals to manage our national soccer team. We have had enough of these recurring issues.

With some voices now calling for heads to roll at SAFA, the saga seems far from ending.