On Friday, he South African Football Association (SAFA) revealed that
they are yet to make a decision on Banyana Banyana’s participation in this
month’s Turkish Women’s Cup following the recent devastating earthquake.
Thousands of people died and many more are missing in the 7.0 magnitude
earthquake that struck the region earlier this week. The tournament, which
was scheduled to take place later this month, includes teams from
Bulgaria, Estonia, Kosovo, Hong Kong, Jordan, North Macedonia, Slovenia,
South Africa, Uzbekistan and Zambia.
In a statement, SAFA said that they have consulted widely on the matter
and have engaged extensively with the Director for Member Associations,
FIFA, the Turkish Ambassador and the organisers of the tournament.
They have also had discussions with Zambia, one of the participating
teams. “We hope this clarifies the matter as gossip develops a false
narrative,” the statement said. “All this feedback will be given to the
team in camp, and a final decision on whether to travel to Turkey or not
will be announced.” The safety of the players and officials is of utmost
importance to SAFA, and they are taking the matter very seriously.
