Mamelodi Sundowns coach Rulani Mokwena has reacted to SAFA’s criticism over his club’s decision not to release Siyabonga Mabena early for the national Under 17s.
Mabena was recently at the centre of a club vs country row after the Tshwane giants initially refused to release him for national duty.
The youngster was the last player to join camp as the Under 17s prepared for the AFCON tournament. This year’s edition is being staged in Algeria from April 29 to May 19.
SAFA’s technical director Walter Steenbok and the association’s CEO Tebogo Motlanthe launched a scathing attack on Sundowns.
MABENA PART OF MOKWENA’S PLANS
The 16-year-old is part of coach Mokwena’s plans, making four appearances in all competitions this season since his promotion.
Steenbok, a former Sundowns employee, stated that what the club was doing “was just unthinkable”. He said SAFA “cannot afford to have Under-17 players reporting late for camps and being withheld by professional clubs.”
Meanwhile, Motlanthe, livid by the actions of Sundowns as the club wanted Mabena to arrive late for the Under 17 camp, said PSL clubs don’t have jurisdiction over players under age such as Mabena.
Mabena is one of the leading players in the Under 17 squad after his displays at last year’s COSAFA Cup. The midfielder finished as the COSAFA top goal scorer with nine goals. On the club front, he has also impressed Mokwena.
Addressing the matter, Mokwena, like SAFA’s president Danny Jordaan, admits the issue is complex and deeper.
RULANI REACTS TO SAFA
“The Mabena situation, I don’t want to get too much into it because it is about perspective,” said Mokwena.
“Many people said, ‘Oh, but being with the national team with the U-17s camp and training is far more important than actually playing 15 minutes in a PSL match’.
“And if that’s the understanding and the undertaking, we have to ask ourselves a lot of questions about the standard of our PSL football.
“So, when you go into that space, you have to know what space you are going in because you open up so many conundrums. As Sundowns, we’ll always support the national team. We’ll always support our players and their endeavours to represent their nation, careers, and families.”
Furthermore, Mokwena wished the coach Duncan Crowie and his troops all the best in the AFCON tournament.
The Sundowns tactician insisted that the club will always support the national team, as proven in the past.
“We wish the Under-17s well, and we are all fully behind them. We do whatever we can to support and ensure that they are successful because it represents everybody,” he said.
“The ambitions of the national teams are the ambitions of everyone. Their success is our success. Their failures it’s our failures because we are all South Africans. We try our best to ensure that they are successful.
“And tell me, which club in the last five years has released so many players…staff members and players? Which football club has been more supportive of the national teams than Mamelodi Sundowns?” asked Mokwena.
RELATED STORY: Why Rulani Mokwena compares Siyabonga Mabena to Gift Leremi
