Lyle Foster: AFCON ‘antics’ jeopardise Bafana future

The South African Football Association(Safa) is set to investigate the reasons why Bafana Bafana striker Lyle Foster plays for Burnley and not his country.

Foster sent a letter to Safa end of December requesting to be excused from the national team ahead of the African Cup of Nations.

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The 23-year-old was out of the game for seven weeks due to mental issued and returned to Burnely mid-December.

Bafana Bafana coach Hugo Broos said he contacted the club over Foster’s availability but he was told the striker wasn’t ready.

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“We have had a lot of contact over the last weeks with Burnley and especially the coach Kompany, and first of all, they said ‘forget it, he will not be with you at Afcon’,” Broos told SABC3 in December.

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“Still, I selected him in their preliminary selection because I thought ‘You never know’. I was surprised that two weeks ago he played one half and immediately phoned Kompany and said ‘Hey, what is this I don’t understand’. “He explained to me that ‘Okay, he played 45 minutes but he wasn’t ready [to play in Afcon]. There is still the danger that he could have the same problems he had two months ago’. I said ‘Okay, I will not discuss with you, I will talk to the doctors’,” Broos continued.

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“So our doctor had contact with the doctors at Burnley. I got the medical report where it stated it was impossible and I repeat it was impossible for Foster to be at Afcon and this is medical. Don’t ask me why but the risk and the dangers are still there that if it goes in a bad direction with Lyle he goes back to where he started three months ago.

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“I was also surprised to see last weekend that he played again, but, this is a medical decision, it’s not my decision,” said the Bafana coach.

According to Soccer Laduma, Safa is set to investigate the Foster issue.

“Obviously if we had Foster, it would have been a good a good addition to the squad but I don’t know the details why it was not possible for him to play for his club and not his country,”said Safa president Danny Jordaan.

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“And we would have to investigate whether, if it was the club or himself, and we then have to take a decision.”