{"id":31965,"date":"2025-10-10T11:16:31","date_gmt":"2025-10-10T09:16:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.gauteng.net\/whats-on-g\/?p=31965"},"modified":"2026-03-12T09:46:29","modified_gmt":"2026-03-12T07:46:29","slug":"bafana-bafanas-world-cup-dream-at-risk","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.gauteng.net\/whats-on-g\/bafana-bafanas-world-cup-dream-at-risk\/","title":{"rendered":"Bafana Bafana\u2019s World Cup Dream at Risk: Who Will Be Held Accountable?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>It\u2019s an uncomfortable question, but a necessary one who will take responsibility if Bafana Bafana fail to qualify for the FIFA World Cup due to what appears to be an avoidable administrative blunder?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-the-qualification-scenario\">The Qualification Scenario<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>South Africa still has a lifeline. If Bafana win their final two CAF World Cup qualifiers against Zimbabwe (Friday) and Rwanda (Tuesday), and other group results go their way, they could still top Group C and book their spot at next year\u2019s global showpiece.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>However, even if that miracle happens, officials will likely brush aside the controversy over fielding ineligible midfielder Teboho Mokoena against Lesotho in March.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div id=\"gaute-622360032\" class=\"gaute-inbetween-content gaute-entity-placement\" style=\"margin-top: 30px;margin-bottom: 30px;margin-left: auto;margin-right: auto;text-align: center;\"><div class=\"gaute-adlabel\">Advertisement<\/div><script async src=\"\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js?client=ca-pub-1852772760112594\" crossorigin=\"anonymous\"><\/script><ins class=\"adsbygoogle\" style=\"display:block;\" data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-1852772760112594\" \ndata-ad-slot=\"1819787043\" \ndata-ad-format=\"auto\" data-full-width-responsive=\"true\"><\/ins>\n<script> \n(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); \n<\/script>\n<\/div><h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-the-mokoena-controversy\">The Mokoena Controversy<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>FIFA docked South Africa three points after ruling that Mokoena was ineligible to play in that qualifier, as he had been serving a one-match suspension. The result of Bafana\u2019s 2-0 victory was overturned to a 3-0 loss a devastating blow in a tight qualification group.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In response, the South African Football Association (SAFA) released a statement declaring their intent to appeal FIFA\u2019s decision. The statement, however, was widely criticized for attempting to shift blame onto FIFA rather than accepting responsibility for what was clearly an internal administrative failure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed aligncenter is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe title=\"Nothing has changed: Hugo Broos confident despite Fifa blow ahead of Zimbabwe\" width=\"755\" height=\"425\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/auJ4vZrjAvc?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-safa-s-accountability-problem\">SAFA\u2019s Accountability Problem<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Nowhere in SAFA\u2019s 279-word statement did the association acknowledge fault or express remorse for the mistake. Instead, the tone of the communication seemed defensive and dismissive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>As IOL Sport journalist Smiso Msomi aptly put it: \u201cThe Mokoena blunder is not just an unfortunate oversight; it is a symptom of systemic negligence.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Indeed, one has to ask: how does such a fundamental error occur at this level? Who was tasked with verifying player suspensions before a World Cup qualifier and why was that process neglected?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div id=\"gaute-2157865436\" class=\"gaute-inbetween-content gaute-entity-placement\" style=\"margin-top: 30px;margin-bottom: 30px;margin-left: auto;margin-right: auto;text-align: center;\"><div class=\"gaute-adlabel\">Advertisement<\/div><script async src=\"\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js?client=ca-pub-1852772760112594\" crossorigin=\"anonymous\"><\/script><ins class=\"adsbygoogle\" style=\"display:block;\" data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-1852772760112594\" \ndata-ad-slot=\"1819787043\" \ndata-ad-format=\"auto\" data-full-width-responsive=\"true\"><\/ins>\n<script> \n(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); \n<\/script>\n<\/div><h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-the-bigger-picture\">The Bigger Picture<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>While the nation rallies behind Bafana in hopes of qualification, the lingering question remains: what happens if they don\u2019t make it? Will anyone at <a href=\"https:\/\/iol.co.za\/sport\/soccer\/2025-10-10-who-will-be-held-accountable-if-bafana-bafana-dont-qualify-for-the-world-cup\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">SAFA <\/a>face consequences for an error that potentially cost South Africa a World Cup berth?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>History suggests accountability within the association is rare. But the hope remains that this incident sparks change, prompting better systems, transparency, and professionalism going forward.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Related  article: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.gauteng.net\/whats-on-g\/bafana-bafana-faces-setbacks-ahead-of-2026-world-cup-qualifiers\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Bafana Bafana Faces Setbacks Ahead of 2026 World Cup Qualifiers<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Disclaimer: The views expressed in this article do not reflect those of  What&#8217;s on G.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>It\u2019s an uncomfortable question, but a necessary one who will take responsibility if Bafana Bafana fail to qualify for the FIFA World Cup due to what appears to be an avoidable administrative blunder? The Qualification Scenario South Africa still has a lifeline. If Bafana win their final two CAF World Cup qualifiers against Zimbabwe (Friday)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":31967,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rank_math_focus_keyword":"","rank_math_title":"","rank_math_description":"It\u2019s an uncomfortable question, but a necessary one who will take responsibility if Bafana Bafana fail to qualify for the FIFA World Cup due to what appears to...","footnotes":""},"categories":[56,64],"tags":[286,11121,284,11108],"class_list":{"0":"post-31965","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-sports","8":"category-sports-news","9":"tag-bafana-bafana","10":"tag-fifa-world-cup-qualifiers","11":"tag-football-news","12":"tag-latest-sports-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.gauteng.net\/whats-on-g\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31965","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.gauteng.net\/whats-on-g\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.gauteng.net\/whats-on-g\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gauteng.net\/whats-on-g\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gauteng.net\/whats-on-g\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=31965"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.gauteng.net\/whats-on-g\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31965\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":31998,"href":"https:\/\/www.gauteng.net\/whats-on-g\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31965\/revisions\/31998"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gauteng.net\/whats-on-g\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/31967"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.gauteng.net\/whats-on-g\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=31965"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gauteng.net\/whats-on-g\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=31965"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gauteng.net\/whats-on-g\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=31965"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}