South Africa’s FIFA World Cup preparations suffered a setback after the squad departed for the tournament a day later than scheduled, while assistant coach Helman Mkhalele was left behind because of unresolved visa issues involving the United States.
Bafana Bafana, who will return to the World Cup for the first time since hosting the tournament in 2010, finally left Johannesburg on a charter flight on Monday after securing visas for all players. The team had originally been scheduled to travel on Sunday but was forced to delay its departure because several players and staff members had not received the necessary travel documents.
South Africa begin their World Cup campaign against co-host Mexico in Mexico City on June 11. They will also play one of their Group A matches in the United States, making U.S. travel clearance a crucial requirement for the entire delegation.
The visa delay sparked criticism from South Africa’s Sports Minister Gayton McKenzie, who described the situation as a “debacle” and blamed an administrative error by team officials. McKenzie said the incident was embarrassing for the country and demanded a full report from the South African Football Association (SAFA).
“We are being made to look like fools,” McKenzie wrote on social media.
While SAFA managed to resolve visa issues for the players before departure, assistant coach Mkhalele remained without clearance. SAFA president Danny Jordaan revealed that Mkhalele’s visa application had initially been refused by U.S. authorities without any explanation, and his travel documents were still being processed.
“We hope that will also be resolved and all of our people will be going,” Jordaan told reporters at Johannesburg’s OR Tambo International Airport before the team’s departure.
SAFA apologised for the 24-hour delay and thanked South Africa’s Department of International Relations and Cooperation, along with the U.S. Consulate in Johannesburg, for assisting in resolving the matter.
The latest administrative issue has once again placed South Africa’s football administration under scrutiny. Earlier during World Cup qualifying, midfielder Teboho Mokoena was fielded against Lesotho despite being suspended, resulting in South Africa losing the points from the match and putting its qualification hopes in jeopardy.
Despite that setback, South Africa recovered to finish top of its qualifying group by a single point and book its place at the World Cup.
The team will be based in the Mexican city of Pachuca during the tournament and is scheduled to play a final warm-up match against Jamaica on Friday. After facing Mexico in the opener, South Africa will take on the Czech Republic in Atlanta before concluding its Group A campaign against South Korea in Monterrey.
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