Net closing in on Bafana players who partied hard after Cape Verde defeat

20 September 2017 - 14:51 By Marc Strydom
subscribe Just R20 for the first month. Support independent journalism by subscribing to our digital news package.
Subscribe now
Bafana Bafana players during a training session at FNB Stadium.
Bafana Bafana players during a training session at FNB Stadium.
Image: Gallo Images

Stuart Baxter will deal with players who reportedly partied hard after Bafana Bafana’s World Cup qualifying defeat against Cape Verde in Durban “in-house”‚ the coach said on Wednesday.

Announcing his squad at FNB Stadium for the next Russia 2018 FIFA World Cup qualifier against Burkina Faso on October 7‚ Bafana coach Baxter included all the players – Bongani Zungu‚ Andile Jali‚ Keagan Dolly and Tebogo Langerman – named and shamed in news reports.

Bafana lost 2-1 against Cape Verde in Praia on September 1‚ then by the same scoreline in Durban.

But after results that have crippled the team’s efforts to reach the World Cup‚ a group of Bafana players‚ according to the reports‚ partied late into the night in the team hotel.

“I’m guessing that every sporting code in this country has had these sort of problems.

"This will not be the only national team that has some players overstep the mark‚” Baxter said.

“The English rugby team have done it‚ the All Blacks have had problems with it‚ Bafana have had problems.

“I know that every group of sportsman that get together‚ they’ve got the possibility of overstepping the mark.

“That overstepping has probably been going on for about 60 or 70 years‚ and I’ve had 10 sessions with this group.

“So‚ allow me a bit more time and I’ll make sure that the players who represent this country don’t think that it’s acceptable to overstep.

“Because I’m pretty sure that most people in this country over the last 50 years have almost looked with admiration at boys taking a drink‚ or boys being boys.

“But when we’re professional athletes‚ and when we are professionals representing our country‚ we don’t do that.

“So I’m as open as I can be. It will be dealt with in-house‚ and it will be dealt with quickly. And we will reiterate a very strict code of conduct.”

The players’ partying allegedly included women and booze‚ and continued despite Umhlanga Garden Court hotel security trying to bring it to a stop.

Baxter was at pains not to “hang my players out to dry”.

“(But) certainly they will know about my displeasure because some of them had gone when we had come down for breakfast – they got their early flights‚” he said.

“There are incidents historically of ‘during camp’‚ etcetera‚ etcetera. I don’t believe that anything happened during camp.

“I think that with this‚ maybe something got lost in translation that previously players‚ when the last ball is kicked‚ feel a certain amount of freedom to overstep the mark.

"That’s not how it works with me.”

Baxter was asked about how such behaviour reflects on the players’ commitment levels‚ and about the public anger there will be to the incident.

“The public are not alone on that.

"And‚ again‚ I don’t want to batter my players in a public forum‚” he said.

“Whatever I say here you can multiply by 10 what I will be saying between four walls.

“I don’t want the players to feel that I’m hanging them out to dry – as individuals or groups or even as a unit.

“(But) the public have got every right to demand more than that sort of behaviour.

“When everybody gets into camp‚ anybody who was involved in this will know very clearly my thoughts on it.”

- TimesLIVE


subscribe Just R20 for the first month. Support independent journalism by subscribing to our digital news package.
Subscribe now