Will Teboho Mokoena blunder now be forgotten, and how does Safa ensure this never happens again?
Bafana Bafana’s near miss in Fifa World Cup qualification due to fielding ineligible player Teboho Mokoena highlights systemic negligence within the SA Football Association (Safa), raising questions about accountability and future prevention measures. Seen here: Safa president Danny Jordaan. Picture: Sydney Mahlangu/BackpagePix
Image: Sydney Mahlangu/BackpagePix
The fact that Bafana Bafana nearly missed out on Fifa World Cup qualification due in large part to an administrative error beggars belief.
It’s an uncomfortable question, but a necessary one - who will be held accountable since Bafana Bafana almost did not qualify for the Fifa World Cup, due in large part to an administrative oversight?
The debacle of fielding the ineligible Teboho Mokoena for a qualifier match against Lesotho in March came back to haunt Bafana.
Fifa, quite correctly, decided to dock Bafana three points as their 2-0 win over Lesotho was converted to a 3-0 loss.
SA Football Association’s Appeal and Systemic Negligence in World Cup Qualifier Blunder
Instead of accepting the decision and moving on, the SA Football Association (Safa) immediately put out a statement saying they would appeal the decision, as they also attempted to discredit the process the world governing body took, and it was a shameless attempt to deflect from their own mistakes.
In a 279-word statement released by Safa last month, nowhere did Safa accept responsibility for Bafana fielding Mokoena during the World Cup qualifier in question. Mokoena had picked up a one-match suspension ahead of the Lesotho match but still went ahead and played in the clash.
As IOL Sport soccer writer, Smiso Msomi puts it perfectly: “The Mokoena blunder is not just an unfortunate oversight; it is a symptom of systemic negligence.”
He adds: “Every Bafana camp produces reports and debriefs compiled by a wider technical and administrative team. If no one flagged that Mokoena was carrying two bookings, then the failure belongs to the entire chain of command, not one individual.”
How can it be that no one from Safa allowed a situation like this to occur in 2025?
Obviously every South African wanted Bafana to qualify for the World Cup, but now that they did, is there perhaps a very small chance that someone at Safa will take accountability for a situation that should never have been allowed?
If they can do that, that will go a long way to ensuring something like this never happens again.
* The views expressed are not necessarily the views of IOL or Independent Media.
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