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South Africa's World Cup Mission in Jeopardy Over Visa Delays; Sports Minister Outraged
🇬🇷 Greece /Sports

South Africa's World Cup Mission in Jeopardy Over Visa Delays; Sports Minister Outraged

From Ta Nea · () Greek

Translated from Greek, summarized and contextualized by DistantNews.

At a glance

News Sources not specified Ongoing story
  • South Africa's national football team faces a delay in departing for the 2026 World Cup due to visa issues for players and staff.
  • The country's sports minister expressed strong dissatisfaction, calling the situation "embarrassing and grossly unfair."
  • The delay jeopardizes the team's preparation, including a scheduled friendly match and their World Cup opener on June 11.

The South African national football team's journey to the 2026 World Cup has been thrown into disarray due to significant visa complications, preventing the squad from departing on schedule. The team's departure was delayed on Sunday as several players and members of the technical staff had not yet received their necessary visas to travel to Mexico.

This administrative mishap has caused considerable consternation within the South African Football Association (SAFA), which confirmed difficulties with the travel documents but provided few specifics. Local media have widely criticized the situation as a major organizational failure, placing the team in a precarious position just days before the tournament's commencement.

South Africa's Minister of Sport, Gaketso Makhene, publicly voiced his outrage over the visa issues. He demanded a full report and called for accountability, stating, "I need a full report and action must be taken against those responsible for this chaos. They are making us look ridiculous." The Athletic reported that the minister described the visa problems as "embarrassing and grossly unfair."

The SAFA is reportedly working diligently to resolve the travel document issues and facilitate the squad's departure to Mexico City as soon as possible, aiming to salvage their preparation schedule. South Africa is slated to play a friendly match against Jamaica as their final warm-up before their World Cup opener against Mexico on June 11. They also require entry permits for the United States, where they are scheduled to play their second match against the Czech Republic in Atlanta. This marks South Africa's return to the World Cup finals for the first time since hosting the tournament in 2010, but their preparation has been far from ideal, compounded by a recent run of four consecutive winless matches.

I need a full report and action must be taken against those responsible for this chaos. They are making us look ridiculous.

— Gaketso MakheneSouth Africa's Minister of Sport, expressing anger over the visa issues delaying the national football team's departure for the World Cup.
DistantNews Editorial

Originally published by Ta Nea in Greek. Translated, summarized, and contextualized by our editorial team with added local perspective. Read our editorial standards.

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