St. Louis City SC Sporting Director Lutz Pfannenstiel has cleared the air over Njabulo Blom’s situation after Hugo Broos had questioned whether there are sinister reasons for the midfielder not to report for camp.
Bross had questioned the Major League Soccer side after they informed the South African Football Association that Blom is sick.
The Belgian tactician said he was left angry with the situation, stating St. Louis City gave little information about Blom’s health situation, with the player informing the coach that he thinks he picked up Covid-19.
Broos also stated that he won’t just accept a Blom no-show and would be prepared to report the case to FIFA, if St. Louis cannot provide enough information on Blom’s health.
After hearing the news, iDiski Times contacted Pfannenstiel for a comment on the situation.
The German-born SD, who had a brief stint with Orlando Pirates during his playing days, insisted there is nothing sinister from his club, with Blom bedridden since the end of last week.
“Njabulo has been off sick since last week. He has been in bed over the past few days, he hasn’t left his house and is unable to train. He is simply not in the right condition to travel 15+ hours,” he told iDiski Times.
“This is exactly what we told SAFA. They cannot expect from us that we put him on a plane when he hasn’t even come out of bed, because there is a risk he might infect others.
“Also, it is the rules in the United States not to disclose the Covid status of a player publicly, hence we say the player is sick. We have no reason to fight with SAFA, we did respond in a professional manner and confirmed that the player is sick.
„I always want a player to represent his country and we are proud of one of our players getting selected! Hugo Broos should not talk about this situation, if he does not have the full medical information.“
