Cape Town — The SASOL-sponsored Banyana Banyana will be forced to soldier on without several players after positive Covid-19 cases emerged in camp in Rabat, Morocco.
The South African senior national team is preparing for a crunch Women’s Africa Cup of Nations (Wafcon) quarter-final match against Tunisia on Thursday, and a win against the North Africans will also ensure that coach Desiree Ellis’ charges are one of the four continental sides to qualify for the 2023 World Cup to be co-hosted by Australia and New Zealand.
“We had one official who tested positive before the Burundi game [in the group stages of the tournament]. The official was isolated and treated as she was symptomatic,” Banyana team physician Dr Rodney Mokoka told Safa Media.
“And 48 hours before the Botswana game [the final group stage match], we had one player who tested positive for Covid-19 and she was also symptomatic. She was put in quarantine and treated accordingly. Her asymptomatic roommate who tested negative is in isolation, hence they both missed the Botswana game.”
Ellis has maintained a positive outlook ahead of another round of Covid-19 tests that will be conducted before the match on Thursday.
The 2022 Wafcon took centre stage for the first time in four years after the previous edition was cancelled due to the outbreak of the Coronavirus pandemic that wreaked havoc with the international sporting calendar.
The South African senior women’s team has already been dealt a massive injury blow after forward Thembi Kgatlana was ruled out of the Wafcon on Monday.
Kgatlana sustained a ruptured Achilles tendon in the SASOL-sponsored Banyana Banyana’s Group C match against Botswana on Sunday and had to be stretched off the pitch in the 69th minute. She had to undergo an MRI scan which confirmed the extent of the injury.
IOL Sport