South Africa are expected to be involved in sparring matches before resuming their 2023 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers
The Sierra Leone Football Association has confirmed they have arranged an international friendly match for the Leone Stars against Bafana Bafana later on in September.
Safa, however, are yet to confirm the SLFA’s announcement which states that Sierra Leone will face Bafana on September 24 in Johannesburg.
The next FIFA match window will be open from September 19 to 27 and it will be the last one before the November/December Qatar World Cup.
“The Sierra Leone Football Association is pleased to announce that it has sealed two agreements for two international friendly matches against South Africa’s Bafana Bafana and The Leopards of the Democratic Republic of Congo on 24 and 27 September respectively of the FIFA calendar,” SLFA said in a statement.
“The said friendlies have been arranged in the wake of overwhelming interest by diaspora players to spot the nation’s jersey. The first match has been confirmed to be played in Johannesburg, South Africa, whilst the second shall take place in Rabat, Morocco.”
While the SLFA has confirmed the match, Safa remains mum on the issue.
“We cannot confirm anything at the moment until we have issued an official release,” Safa head of communication Mninawa Ntloko told GOAL.
Bafana Bafana coach Hugo Broos might be keen to make full use of the upcoming FIFA match window in preparation for the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers that resume in March next year.
South Africa are scheduled to play back-to-back matches against Liberia in March and try to recover from their slow start in Group K following a 2-1 defeat away in Morocco in June.
After the Morocco match, Bafana teams made up of fringe players participated in the Cosafa Cup as well as the African Nations Championship qualifiers.
Broos’ assistant coach Helman Mkhalele was in charge of those teams.
Source: Confusion around Bafana Bafana-Sierra Leone showdown | Goal.com Nigeria