Menzi Magubane
After Kaizer Chiefs were denied entrance to Morocco last month it comes as no surprise to see the Africa Under-17 Cup of Nation suffer.
Chiefs could not honour their CAF Champions League fixture against Wydad because of travel difficulties.
Morocco was to host the tournament but it was cancelled just days before the Saturday kick-off after a number of teams encountered issues travelling to Morocco, brought about by the country’s government restrictions related to Covid-19.
The decision was taken on Tuesday after the CAF Emergency Committee met on Monday night in Rabat, Morocco. South Africa, who qualified after winning the Cosafa Tournament in Port Elizabeth in November 2020, would be going to the tournament for the first time.
Coach Vela Khumalo said they are disappointed.
“It was a great opportunity for the boys who were looking forward to the tournament,” Khumalo said.
“This is especially difficult for us after all the hard work, the planning and preparation and the fact we were going there to represent the nation.”
South Africa were placed in a tough pool with Cameroon, Senegal and Mali but Khumalo said they were looking forward to the challenge.
He thanked Safa for the support they gave them.
“They had made sure our preparation was as good as it could be under the difficult circumstances.”
The last four teams from this tournament would have represented Africa at the Fifa U/17 World Cup in Peru later this year. But even the World Cup was cancelled by FIFA in December last year due to Covid-19
Khumalo said the cancellation will be a blow to the development of his team but he is hopeful that most of his players can make the step up to the Under-20s.
