A clash of dates between the Premier Soccer League and the South African Football Association has meant that a quartet of Kaizer Chiefs players who were on Wednesday called up by Bafana Bafana coach Carlos Alberto Parreira for the Cosafa Cup semifinal against Botswana on the 29th September will be unable to feature in the game.

As the match is taking place on a date not sanctioned by Fifa for international matches, clubs who have other official matches on that day do not have to release players for these matches, which means that Amakhosi players goalkeeper Itumeleng Khune, defenders Jimmy Tau and Moketi Tsotetsi as well as midfielder Siphiwe Tshabalala will not take part in the Cosafa Cup semifinal.

The reason is that the Amakhosi has been scheduled to play a Telkom Cup last sixteen match at the Vodacom Loftus Stadium in Tshwane against Moroka Swallows on the same day as the Cosafa Cup game.

Chiefs players to feature in Telkom Cup

While commenting to kaizerchiefs.com on Thursday morning Amakhosi team manager Bobby Motaung said that as things stand the club will not be releasing any of their players for the Cosafa Cup match, and that the four players will instead be part of coach Muhsin Ertugral’s plans for the Telkom knock out game against Moroka Swallows.

Motaung added “this issue is really not for us to make much about as it is a matter between Safa and the PSL for not getting their communication right, we have a Telkom Cup game against Swallows on the same day and we need to be at full strength for the game.

The two bodies Safa and the PSL are better placed than the clubs to know that the said weekend in not one set aside by Fifa for international matches, as it stands we have an important game against Moroka Swallows which we obviously want to win like I said we need our strongest team for the match”.