The Bafana Bafana were originally set to face Zambia in Lusaka, the
capital of Zambia as part of their warm-up fixtures before their AFCON
qualifiers in November but the match was cancelled on Tuesday after
Zambia withdrew citing xenophobic attacks on foreign nationals in
South Africa.
Madagascar has pulled out of Saturday’s planned friendly match
arranged by the South African Football Association after their initial
opponent, Zambia, pulled out of the friendly a few days ago.
The Bafana Bafana were originally set to face Zambia in Lusaka, the
capital of Zambia as part of their warm-up fixtures before their AFCON
qualifiers in November but the match was cancelled on Tuesday after
Zambia withdrew citing xenophobic attacks on foreign nationals in
South Africa.
The South African Football Association (SAFA) quickly arranged a
replacement with Madagascar and also announced free entry for
supporters attending the fixture at Orlando Stadium in Soweto.
However, the Malagasy Football Federation (FMF) in a statement on
Thursday afternoon said it is pulling out of the planned friendly
citing security reasons.
The statement said: “The Malagasy Football Federation (FMF) has been
approached by the South African Football Federation (SAFA) to organize
a friendly match between the national team of Madagascar and that of
South Africa.
"Honoured by this consideration, and finding the interesting
opportunity to prepare the Malagasy national team for the different
deadlines that await them, the FMF initially gave its agreement in
principle for the organisation of the meeting.
"However, after having agreed with Malagasy national institutions in
particular regarding the security of the delegation of Madagascar and
Malagasy nationals in South Africa, it was found necessary and
judicious to decline the invitation.
"The Malagasy national team will continue its reunion in Madagascar
and will see its elements return to their respective clubs after the
FIFA date.
"Finally, the FMF apologizes to SAFA for the efforts they have begun
to organize the meeting, and also supporters of Malagasy football who
looked forward to the match.”
Bafana Bafana confirmed the cancellation of the match in a tweet by
the South African FA tweeted.
See the tweet below:
Bafana Bafana
✔
@BafanaBafana
Breaking News: SAFA regrets to inform the public that the match
between Bafana Bafana and Madagascar scheduled for this coming
Saturday (7 September) has been called off after the visitors
(Madagascar) decided to withdraw from the encounter.
View image on Twitter
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