WEDNESDAY, 1.30PM:
THE South African Football Association (Safa) will invite Namibia, Nigeria and one unnamed Asian country to take part in this year’s Four Nations Cup. Safa has decided to invite Namibia because it is the only neighbouring country that has not played against Bafana Bafana.
“We have played against all our neighbours except Namibia and this is the appropriate time to invite them,” said Safa CEO Danny Jordaan on Tuesday. He said Namibia have shown interest in playing South Africa for a long time and that the way they have improved in Afican football makes it unfair to continue ingoring them.
Jordaan said Safa sent a letter to the Nigerian Football Association on Tuesday and were waiting for a reply any time this week. He added Safa will hold a meeting with the Nigerian High Commissioner on Wednesday to discuss the issue. Jordaan refused to disclose the name of the Asian country but said a meeting will be held on Friday where every invited country will be announced.
Meanwhile, the richest soccer tournament in Africa, the Rothmans Cup, kicks off on Wednesday with two preliminary matches. Lightbody Santos hosts Real Rovers in Cape Town and AmaZulu take on neighbours African Wanderers at King’s Park rugby stadium in Durban.
On Sunday, AmaZulu will host African Wanderers at King’s Park and Lightbody Santos will travel to Pietersburg to play Real Rovers. Then the two winning teams will move to the second round where 16 Premier Soccer League clubs will take part.
The winners of the competition will take home R1-million and a chance to play in the African Cup Winners Cup competition next year. The runners-up will get R400 000 and the two semi-finalists will pocket R200 000 each.