South Africa’s path to the African Under-23 Championships in Egypt next year‚ and the Olympic Games in 2020‚ became a little clearer after it was confirmed that they would face Angola in the second round of qualifying for the tournament.
Angola were due to meet Namibia in the first round qualifiers starting this weekend‚ with the winner to take on South Africa‚ who had been handed a bye.
But Namibia withdrew from the qualifiers on Wednesday‚ pushing Angola automatically through to a meeting with South Africa in the two-legged second round in March next year.
The victor in that tie will face either Zimbabwe or Eswatini/Mozambique in the final round of the preliminaries for Egypt in June.
“We simply don’t have funds to take the team to Angola and it is a very sad situation as you could see the boys we looking forward to this campaign but now it’s all over for them.
"The money we have now has to be used for the Brave Warriors for this weekend’s game against Guinea Bissau. And so the junior teams are feeling the pinch‚” Namibia Football Association Secretary General Barry Rukoro said.
“It is serious reputational damage for the Association as we are known to be ever present at almost all youth competitions and now this is happening and we have no choice but to pull the plug.
"We will still assess the situation with regard to the Under-20s going to Cosafa Cup [in Zambia next month].”
South Africa will hope to qualify for Egypt and then must finish in the top three on the continental stage to qualify for the Olympic Games in Tokyo in 2020.
The fourth-place finisher plays in a play-off against a team from the Asian Football Confederation.
South Africa have qualified for the Games twice before‚ in Sydney in 2000 and in Rio de Janeiro in 2016.
SA's path to the African U23 Championships and the Olympic Games became a little clearer
Image: Sydney Seshibedi/Gallo Images
South Africa’s path to the African Under-23 Championships in Egypt next year‚ and the Olympic Games in 2020‚ became a little clearer after it was confirmed that they would face Angola in the second round of qualifying for the tournament.
Angola were due to meet Namibia in the first round qualifiers starting this weekend‚ with the winner to take on South Africa‚ who had been handed a bye.
But Namibia withdrew from the qualifiers on Wednesday‚ pushing Angola automatically through to a meeting with South Africa in the two-legged second round in March next year.
The victor in that tie will face either Zimbabwe or Eswatini/Mozambique in the final round of the preliminaries for Egypt in June.
“We simply don’t have funds to take the team to Angola and it is a very sad situation as you could see the boys we looking forward to this campaign but now it’s all over for them.
"The money we have now has to be used for the Brave Warriors for this weekend’s game against Guinea Bissau. And so the junior teams are feeling the pinch‚” Namibia Football Association Secretary General Barry Rukoro said.
“It is serious reputational damage for the Association as we are known to be ever present at almost all youth competitions and now this is happening and we have no choice but to pull the plug.
"We will still assess the situation with regard to the Under-20s going to Cosafa Cup [in Zambia next month].”
South Africa will hope to qualify for Egypt and then must finish in the top three on the continental stage to qualify for the Olympic Games in Tokyo in 2020.
The fourth-place finisher plays in a play-off against a team from the Asian Football Confederation.
South Africa have qualified for the Games twice before‚ in Sydney in 2000 and in Rio de Janeiro in 2016.
Would you like to comment on this article?
Register (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.
Trending
Latest Videos