Caf sends team to inspect pitch as confusion reigns over Bafana World Cup venue

Confusion continued to reign on Tuesday morning about which Bloemfontein stadium Bafana Bafana's two 2026 Fifa World Cup qualifiers will be played at three days before the kickoff of the first match against Lesotho.

The crucial Group C matches — the second is against Nigeria next Tuesday, where Bafana could put themselves within touching distance of World Cup qualification with a six-point haul — were scheduled to be played at Free State Stadium.

Caf dispatched a delegation to inspect the ground on Tuesday morning.

On Sunday, Caf and Fifa contacted the South African Football Association (Safa) and the Lesotho FA, instructing them the two matches would be switched to Bloemfontein's Dr Molemela Stadium. The bodies said they had received information the Free State Stadium pitch is in a terrible state, but it has since transpired Caf and Fifa took the advice second-hand and none of their officials had inspected the ground.

Bafana coach Hugo Broos said in a press conference at Dobsonville Stadium in Soweto on Monday, where his team are training until travelling to Bloemfontein on Thursday, that what he saw of the Free State Stadium pitch when he was there last week was “awful”.

He said Friday's game against Lesotho — the country's home match being held and organised in South Africa by its FA because of the lack of a Caf-approved venue in the mountain kingdom — had been switched to Dr Molemela Stadium.

The information received from Safa on Monday was the Nigeria match would remain at Free State Stadium. Confusingly, the association is admitting Caf and Fifa also instructed a venue change for the Super Eagles' clash on Sunday.

TimesLIVE has learnt a Cosafa delegation will inspect the pitch on Tuesday, with a decision to be made later in the day on whether the matches will be played at Free State Stadium.

The chaos around the venue has created a logistical nightmare with the two associations having already sold tickets for matches scheduled to take place at the 42,000-seat Free State Stadium. Molemela Stadium has a 22,000 capacity.

“How can they say on a Sunday, less than a week before the match, that we must move venue when the tickets have been sold?” said a source at Safa, who did not want to be named.

“More importantly, there was no inspection done by Caf and Fifa to make the decision.

“If it was a correct decision, why are they only inspecting the pitch three days before the Lesotho vs Bafana match on Friday? It shows this was an ill-conceived idea to move the matches without any proof the state of the pitch at Free State Stadium was unfixable.”

Bafana leads Group C on 13 points, followed by Rwanda and Benin on eight. Nigeria are in fourth place on six points, Lesotho on five and Zimbabwe on four. Two victories will take Bafana close to qualifying for the first 48-team World Cup in Mexico, Canada and the US for the first time since South Africa hosted the event in 2010, and the first time other than as hosts since 2002.