Bafana Bafana coach Hugo Broos says he “doesn’t understand” being turned away as he tried to scout players during the Orlando Pirates-Mamelodi Sundowns match on Saturday.
The 69-year-old arrived at Orlando Stadium with his assistant coach Cedomir Janevski but they were not allowed entry into the stadium.
Sundowns won the game 2-0 as Peter Shalulile grabbed a brace.
With Bafana due in action on October 9 and 12 in back-to-back 2022 Fifa World Cup qualifiers against Ethiopia, Broos went to check possible players he could pick for national duty.
But the Belgian could not enter the stadium due to protocol issues.
“I have to mention I am also, I’m really upset. We would have liked to see the game between Pirates and Sundowns, but they did not allow us to go in the stadium,” said Broos as per iDsiki Times.
“We couldn’t enter at 3pm, we were not allowed to enter the stadium and we had an accreditation of the league. They said ‘no this is not enough. When I let you in, I lose my job’.
“I don’t understand that. We are coaches of the national team, and there is a team [Pirates] who don’t allow us into the stadium to see a game of their team.
“Most surprising is that the chairman of the team [Irvin Khoza] is the vice-president of Safa. I didn’t believe it, so we have to go back.
“My assistant was there, so I phoned him and said ‘come with us and come and see the game, SuperSport’. It is unacceptable, really unacceptable.”
While he was denied the opportunity to scout players live inside the stadium, Broos still went on to pick his final 23-man squad for the Ethiopia match.
He trimmed his squad from the provisional selection that was announced last week.
In his final squad, Broos had Rushine De Reuck, Mothobi Mvala, Mosa Lebusa and Thabiso Kutumela from Sundowns.
From Pirates, the coach settled for Vincent Pule, Tshegofatso Mabasa and Goodman Mosele.
Four Kaizer Chiefs players were invited to national team camp in goalkeeper Bruce Bvuma, Njabulo Ngcobo, Njabulo Blom and Sifiso Hlanti.
