Broos slams clubs over suspicious Bafana player withdrawals

Bafana Bafana coach Hugo Broos was not pleased to see Percy Tau play for Al Ahly on Sunday after the player asked to be excused from the national team, also implying Mamelodi Sundowns have not been honest about players' injuries recently.

In-form Tau, who netted an excellent second brace of the season as Al Ahly beat Ismaily 3-1 in their Egyptian Premier League match at Borg El Arab Stadium in Alexandria, has been withdrawn from the Bafana squad to face Eswatini and Ivory Coast in friendlies due to “family reasons”. Kaizer Chiefs' Mduduzi Mdantsane replaces him.

Bafana host Eswatini at Johannesburg's FNB Stadium on Friday (6pm), before flying to Ivory Coast for Tuesday's second match.

“I had contact with Percy last week and he said for family reasons he wouldn't like to be here with us, and I understood it, but on the other hand, I am not amused that he played for Al Ahly [on Sunday],'' Broos said at a press conference at Bafana's training base at Tuks' High Performance Centre.

“Unfortunately this camp is again disturbed by injuries, like last month. We had [Bathusi] Aubaas, [Thapelo] Morena, [Innocent] Maela and [Thapelo] Maseko [missing the camp].

“Maseko is something different — it's the second time we have that surprise that the player is injured, then suddenly he plays [for Sundowns].

“Last month it happened with [Khuliso] Mudau and this month it's Maseko.”

Maseko came off the bench in Sundowns' MTN8 final penalty shoot-out defeat against Orland Pirates at Durban's Moses Mabhida Stadium on Saturday.

Broos has called for better communication between himself and clubs. He urged them to understand he desperately needs players available for thorough preparations for next month's start of the 2026 World Cup qualifiers and the Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) finals in Ivory Coast in January and February.

“I think we need better communication between me, our national team and clubs so that we really, really know how much the player is injured and if he's not ready to come to the national team.

“So I think clubs have to understand that in very important periods, [just like] they want to have their players, it's the same for me, for us as the national team. I hope for a bit more collaboration from that side.”

“We are in a very important period at the moment. We are in preparations for [the World Cup] qualifiers next month and we are also preparing for Afcon in January. I hope for a bit more collaboration from that side.”

Sowetan