Rulani Mokwena has discussed the recent clash between Mamelodi Sundowns and the South African Football Association over 16-year-old wonder-kid Siyabonga Mabena.
Mabena had been called up to the U17 squad ahead of the U17 Africa Cup of Nations, but initially stayed with Sundowns after recently breaking into the first team under Mokwena.
While other members of the squad had already assembled, Mabena stayed with his club and came off the bench in the league against Golden Arrows and in the Nedbank Cup against Stellenbosch, playing 15 and three minutes, respectively.
The situation upset SAFA, with a high-ranking match official telling iDiski Times about their grievances. Mokwena was now asked about the situation, but first wanted to send the SA his best wishes ahead of their U17 AFCON opening match against Morocco on Sunday.
“Let’s start with the positive and the positive is, we wish them all the best of luck whilst they represent the nation,”
“We are all fully behind them. We do whatever we can to support to ensure they are successful because it represents the ambition of our national teams, the ambitions of all of us.
“They’re success is our success, they’re failures are our failures because we are all South Africans and we try our level best to be successful. It means a lot to everybody associated.”
Mabena, was named the Player of the Tournament after scoring nine goals in the U17 Cosafa Cup that secured his team their place at the AFCON.
However, Mokwena insisted priorities must be checked, if young players were not allowed to gain valuable minutes in the Premier Soccer League over being in a preparation camp for the national team.
“The Mabena situation, I don’t want to get too much into it because a part to it is about perspective,” he explained.
“Many people say ‘being with the national team, the U17s in training is far more important than actually playing minutes in a PSL match’, and if that is the understanding and undertaking we to ask ourselves a lot of questions about the standard of our PSL football.
“When you go into that space, you then have to know what space you are going into because you have to open up so many, so many conundrums that I’m not so sure this is the right platform to address.
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“Having said that, as Sundowns we will always support the national team. We will always our players in their endeavours to represent their nations, to represent their careers and their families.
“Historically, the last five to six years that I’ve been involved in football and this intensity, which club has released so many players outside FIFA breaks, staff members outside FIFA breaks, in FIFA breaks, you tell me which football club has been more supportive to the national than Mamelodi Sundowns.”
