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The players and staff of the National Men’s Football Team of South Africa, affectionately known as Bafana Bafana, were forced to make last-minute travel plans on their way to Costa Rica, where they are scheduled to play a friendly match at the Chinese-donated National Stadium in La Sabana on Thursday.
South Africa is the first of two opponents that will match up against the National Men’s Football Team of Costa Rica, affectionately known as La Sele, in October. It so happens that the South African team was all set to begin the long journey to the Juan Santamaria International Airport (SJO) on Sunday; since there are no direct flights, half of the team chose the busy Atlanta airport as their stopover for further travel to Costa Rica; alas, a visa issue got in the way.
According to a news report filed by Morena Mothupi of Eyewitness News Cape Town, the Bafana players and staff were prevented from boarding the plane at OR Tambo International Airport because they did not have a transit visa to land in the United States for the purpose of boarding a flight to Costa Rica:
The team had to reschedule its travel plans having not sought clarity from the US embassy regarding players’ transit visas.
Head of communications Dominic Chimhavi says there was confusion between the [football] association and the US Embassy regarding the necessity for transit visas for Atlanta. “We had received confirmation from the United States embassy saying that if you are on a transit [flight] and you’re going to Costa Rica, you don’t need visas.”
In the end, this half of the Bafana went back to their hotel in Johannesburg while the problem was sorted out to prevent a potential match delay. A quick solution was found in the spiritual home of football, Brazil, where the players will land in Sao Paulo for the purpose of boarding a connecting flight to Costa Rica, no visas required.
La Sele will be short a couple of starters for the match against South Africa. Team captain Bryan Ruiz and winger Giancarlo Gonzalez are on the injury list; Mauricio Castillo and Ronald Matarrita will play in their stead. The other friendly match for La Sele in October will be against the United States, a team that does not need a visa to enter Costa Rica, on the 13th.
