HANDS off our players!
This is the stern message from SuperSport United to the SA Olympics team coach, David Notoane.
United boss Stan Mathews has made it clear he won’t release the trio of Sipho Mbule, Teboho Mokoena and Jamie Webber for the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games qualifier tournament, to be held in Egypt next month.
Mathews said they can release the players, only if the Premier Soccer League (PSL) and the South African Football Association strike a deal to postpone league matches during the duration of the competition.
“The principle is simple. There’s a Fifa calendar in place and we’re going to play by that calendar,” said Matthews.
“Mbule, Mokoena and Webber are important cogs in the SuperSport’s wheel at the moment. I don’t have other players to replace them with.
“I’ll only release them if the Fifa calendar compels me to.
“Other than that, I’m going to stick to the calendar and the fixture list of the PSL.”
But Notoane, who returned from Egypt on Friday after the draw admitted he was already preparing for life without those players.
He will guide the team in next month’s Under-23 Africa Cup of Nations in Egypt, from where they will be hoping for back-to-back qualification to the Olympics.
“It’s an opportunity for others. We’re aware we might not get some players.
“I thought it was better to start preparations without them,” said Notoane, who is not fazed by their Group B, which have the likes of Nigeria, Ivory Coast and Zambia.
“Negotiations with the PSL and clubs have started for them to give us players.”
Despite being used as the qualifiers for the Olympics, the tournament still falls outside the Fifa calendar.
The coach announced the team that will play Egypt in an international friendly next Sunday.
In the squad he did not include the duo. He only called Webber.
But Notoane is adamant preparations will be key.
He said: “We will not be going to Egypt to qualify for the Olympics but win the tournament.”
For the Egypt friendly, Notoane and his team will gather for camp today and will fly to Egypt on Wednesday.
