Modise tells Safa to resolve Kgatlana issue

Banyana Banyana legend Portia Modise has urged Safa to pull out all the stops to resolve issues preventing star forward Thembi Kgatlana from going to Wafcon, insisting Banyana won't defend their continental title without Kgatlana.

This week, Safa dropped a bombshell when a statement revealed that Kgatlana “will not be part of the camp in Johannesburg and will also not be selected for the Wafcon-bound squad due to personal reasons”.

The 29-year-old Kglatlana, who's plying her trade in Mexico with Tigres UANL, has been Banyana's most instrumental striker in recent years.

“I can tell you now, Banyana won't defend the Wafcon title without Thembi. The people at Safa must put pride aside and resolve the issue to make sure Thembi goes to Wafcon. I don't know Thembi's reasons, but I am sure it's something that can be fixed,” Modise told Sowetan on Thursday.

“Banyana are weak without Thembi. It's a pity that in SA we don't want to admit when a player is a star ... it was the same thing with me, people didn't want to acknowledge that I was a star, saying that was going to make me big-headed, and I sense the same thing with Thembi. This girl is a star and we can't do anything without her, so Safa must sort her issues out before the tournament starts.”

Modise also said that if Kgatlana were a male player, Safa would've ensured there were no issues. “I know that if this were a Bafana Bafana star, Safa was going to make sure everything is resolved,” the Banyana all-time goal scorer alleged.

When Banyana won the Wafcon for the first time, in Morocco in 2022, Kgatlana couldn't finish the tournament after rupturing her Achilles tendon in the team's last group stages game against Botswana. “Pikinini”, as Kgatlana is nicknamed, finished the tournament with one goal as she had to prematurely return home for treatment.

Banyana coach Desiree Ellis will confirm her final Wafcon squad on June 23, as SA will be eager to avoid being the first team to fail to defend their title in Morocco. The tournament starts from July 5 to 26. Banyana are in Group C alongside Ghana, Tanzania and Mali.

SowetanLIVE