SAFA return fire in war of words with Sundowns

SAFA Chief Medical Officer Thulani Ngwenya has responded to accusations made by Mamelodi Sundowns co-coach Rhulani Mokwena.

Mokwena said that clubs were not provided with adequate data from SAFA and the national team staff regarding player health and fitness.

“It’s a very, very difficult situation with Bafana. We can’t even communicate with the medical department.

“We don’t know the itinerary of Bafana; we don’t know the training programme of Bafana. We don’t get training feedback in relation to the [player training] load; there’s no data.

“So, the cooperation with Bafana frustrates us a little bit.”

Ngwenya has refuted the claims made after Bafana coach Hugo Broos slammed Sundowns decision to have Thabiso Kutumela vaccinated on the day he was due to join up with the national team squad.

SAFA return fire in war of words 

SAFA’s chief medical officer said that the Bafana medical team would communicate with club’s medical staff not their technical teams.

“That is not true. You see, it becomes a problem when technical people are going to communicate about medical matters,” Ngwenya told Sport24.

“Medical matters are communicated with medical people. So, if there is anything that got to do with injuries, it’s between doctor and doctor.

“We still communicate with the clubs; when players have to come to the national team, we check with the clubs, the medical doctors, not with the technical people.

“The medical doctors are responsible for players at club level. We communicate with them what to look at in terms of game loading or injuries and what they are worried about.

SOCCER QUIZ | Test your football knowledge and you could WIN R1 000 in cellphone data!

“When players are injured while on national duty, we communicate with their respective clubs immediately.

“So, I am not sure when are technical people going to communicate on medical matters. It is not right. I am not happy that technical people are communicating about medical matters without asking their medical team. We’re constantly communicating with clubs. I know that for a fact. So, it cannot be true that we don’t send medical reports to the club.”

Think you know it all? Play the ‘Scandal!’ quiz and WIN R1 000 in data!