Safa and SMSA reach agreement for FNB Stadium to host Bafana v Morocco

The South African Football Association (Safa) and Stadium Management South Africa (SMSA) have resolved the financial issue that nearly derailed FNB Stadium hosting Bafana Bafana's 2023 Africa Cup of Nations qualifier against Morocco on June 17.

TimesLIVE reported last week that Safa owed SMSA an outstanding debt of about R1.5m. The company that manages FNB Stadium had threaten to not grant Safa the right to host the Moroccans at the 2010 World Cup final venue.

However, in a meeting on Tuesday the parties found an amicable solution and Safa and SMSA announced the match will go ahead as planned at FNB.

"All financial matters between Safa and Stadium Management have been resolved and the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations qualifier between Bafana Bafana and Morocco will go ahead at FNB Stadium on June 17 as scheduled," SMSA CEO Bertie Grobbelaar said.

Safa CEO Lydia Monyepao said the two parties resolved all the issues on the table, including an amount owed from a previous match played at the stadium.

"This was an incredibly cordial engagement between two long-time partners and I am happy our meeting was conducted in such a warm spirit. We are happy all the issues have been resolved," said the new Safa boss. 

The match will be academic for both teams as they have already qualified for the Nations to be hosted by Ivory Coast early next year.

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