{"id":6388,"date":"2026-06-01T09:33:52","date_gmt":"2026-06-01T09:33:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/en\/home\/south-africa-world-cup-trip-delayed-by-visas"},"modified":"2026-06-03T11:30:23","modified_gmt":"2026-06-03T11:30:23","slug":"south-africa-world-cup-trip-delayed-by-visas","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/en\/sport\/south-africa-world-cup-trip-delayed-by-visas","title":{"rendered":"South Africa World Cup Trip Delayed by Visas"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span class=\"ap-article-header-tag\"> <strong>Africa-Press. <\/strong> <\/span>The South African Minister of Sport stated that the country &#8220;demonstrates good faith&#8221; after the delayed travel of its football team to Mexico ahead of the World Cup due to visa problems.<\/p>\n<p>Gaeton McKenzie urged the South African Football Association (SAFA) to clarify the reasons for this situation, adding, &#8220;Actions must be taken against those responsible for this chaos.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>SAFA acknowledged that the team &#8220;faced difficulties in obtaining visas for some players and officials,&#8221; but did not provide further details. McKenzie later confirmed that all players had received travel permits and would depart for the international tournament on Monday. The national broadcaster described the incident as a &#8220;serious administrative error.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>The team, nicknamed &#8220;Bafana Bafana,&#8221; is scheduled to face Jamaica in a friendly match in Mexico on Friday. The South African team will play its opening match in the World Cup against Mexico, which is co-hosting the tournament with the United States and Canada, on June 11.<\/p>\n<p>McKenzie posted on X earlier on Sunday: &#8220;This issue regarding the travel and visas of the South African Football Association is extremely embarrassing and unfair to the players and coaching staff.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Shortly after the minister&#8217;s statements, the association issued a brief statement saying it is &#8220;working around the clock to ensure the team travels to Mexico City as soon as possible before the opening match.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>According to the South African news site TimesLive, efforts were made on Sunday to obtain entry visas to the United States for the team. The players and staff of Bafana Bafana need a permit to enter the United States for their second World Cup match against the Czech Republic in Atlanta, Georgia. The Department of International Relations and Cooperation was also involved in the matter. These efforts appear to have paid off, as McKenzie stated on Sunday evening that a private flight would depart on Monday with all players on board.<\/p>\n<p>However, visas have not yet been obtained for the &#8220;assistant coach, team doctor, head of security, and one analyst,&#8221; he noted. South Africa is one of ten African countries participating in the expanded World Cup featuring 48 teams.<\/p>\n<p>The match between Bafana Bafana and Jamaica will be the last opportunity for the South African team to prepare for the tournament, which they last participated in when South Africa hosted the finals in 2010.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ap-article-footer-note\">Find more news and analyses on <span class=\"ap-highlight-country\">Africa<\/span> on the <span class=\"ap-highlight-brand\">Africa Press<\/span> website<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Africa-Press. The South African Minister of Sport stated that the country &#8220;demonstrates good faith&#8221; after the delayed travel of its football team to Mexico ahead of the World Cup due to visa problems. Gaeton McKenzie urged the South African Football Association (SAFA) to clarify the reasons for this situation, adding, &#8220;Actions must be taken against [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":6387,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[79],"tags":[120],"class_list":{"0":"post-6388","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-sport","8":"tag-africa"},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v26.1 (Yoast SEO v27.0) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>South Africa World Cup Trip Delayed by Visas - Africa Press English<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"-article-header-tag&quot;&gt; Africa-Press. 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