Bafana Bafana coach Hugo Broos has revealed he is angered by how Major League Soccer side St. Louis City SC have handled the call-up of Njabulo Blom, who appears to have picked up Covid-19.
Blom, who joined the MLS side from Kaizer Chiefs in December, had a stellar start to life in the United States, with his newly-formed Franchise winning their first three games under South African Bradley Carnell.
The 23-year-old came off the bench in the first half in the season opener and started the second game, but wasn’t in the squad for the third, which had sent alarm bells ringing to Broos and the technical team after the midfielder was included in the preliminary and final Bafana Bafana squad.
“Njabulo played the first two games, last game he didn’t play,” Broos explained on SABC1.
“So we had immediate contact with St. Louis. They said he is sick. [We said] ok, he’s sick, but what is sick? They didn’t answer.
“So we had contact with Njabulo and he said ‘yeah. I don’t feel so good. I think I have Covid’. I said: ‘Ok, but do the test, if you think you have Covid’.
“Today, we have Thursday, I’m speaking [with them] from Tuesday already. Yesterday, we got a note from St. Louis at 5 o’clock in the afternoon that the coaching staff and the medical staff were discussing the situation of Blom – yesterday at 5pm! We are now 20 hours later, we didn’t have an answer till now…”
Broos also alleged that St. Louis may have sinister reasons for not wanting to release Blom, but insisted they would be prepared to take the matter to FIFA, if they have to.
“I’m not nervous [that he doesn’t show up], I’m angry. This is not correct,” he continued.
“They can tell us, ‘this is the problem, he has Covid’. Ok, we have to change [call up another player].
“[But] when the situation is not clear, you starting to think about things that maybe are not there. I saw in America that next week, there is a league game. 26 [March], they play – also the team of Hlongwane, but Hlongwane is no problem.
“And I’m afraid that they’re trying to keep Njabulo there. But that will not happen. We know the rules, so if he doesn’t come with a correct reason, he will not play with them because then we go to FIFA.
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“I’m very angry about that.”
St. Louis City face SJ Earthquakes in a MLS game on 19 March, before traveling to Real Salt Lake on 26 March, while Bafana are set to face Liberia on 24 March at Orlando Stadium and on 28 March in Monrovia.
