Broos left fuming as Burnley block Lyle Foster from Bafana duty

Hugo Broos has disclosed the reason why he couldn’t select superstar Lyle Foster in Bafana Bafana’s final squad for the 2024 AFCON.

BURNLEY BLOCK BAFANA FROM SELECTING LYLE FOSTER

Burnley forward Lyle Foster has been left out of the South Africa 2024 Africa Cup of Nations squad despite returning to action after recovering from an unspecified mental health issue.

ALSO READ | Lyle Foster omitted from South Africa’s 2024 AFCON squad

The 23-year-old started in a Premier League match against Liverpool on Tuesday, but was bizarrely made unavailable for national selection, according to Broos.

Foster’s unavailability comes after Burnley manager Vincent Kompany, backed up by the club’s medical team, deemed Foster as incapable “to travel around the world” yet after his recent health scare.

“We have a lot of contact over the last weeks with Burnley and especially the coach Kompany, and first of all they said ‘forget it, he will not be with you at AFCON’,” Broos said in an interview on SABC3.

“Still, I selected him in there preliminary selection because I thought ‘you never know’. I was surprised that two weeks ago he played one half and immediately phoned Kompany and said ‘hey, what is this I don’t understand this’.

“He explained to me that ‘ok, he played 45 minutes but he wasn’t ready [for AFCON]. There is still the danger that he could have the same problems he had two months ago’. I said ‘ok, I will not discuss with you, I will talk to the doctors’. 

“So our doctor had contact with the doctors at Burnley. I got the medical report where it stated it was ‘impossible’ and I repeat ‘it was impossible for Lyle Foster to be at AFON’ and this is medical. Don’t ask my why but the risk and the danger is still there that if it goes in a bad direction with Lyle that he goes back to where he started three months ago.

“I was also surprised to see the last weekend that he played again. But again, this is a medical decision, it’s not my decision.”

ALSO READ: Why Lyle Foster is THE most underrated Premier League player

PLAYER ALSO IN AGREEMENT WITH BAFANA SNUB

And according to Broos, Lyle Foster himself also opted against reporting for national duty.

“Don’t forget that three weeks ago, Foster himself wrote a letter to SAFA that he didn’t want to assist the AFCON because of mental problems,” he added. 

“That’s the story of Lyle Foster. 

“I’m not happy that he’s not there, because he’s a very good striker, but again this is a medical decision and I can’t do anything about it.”

ALSO READ: Why former Pirates star Lyle Foster is worth R266 Million