Exclusive: St Louis City set record straight on Njabulo Blom

The national team mentor named Blom in his 23-man squad to face Liberia in back-to-back Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers this month, but revealed that he was unsure whether the former Kaizer Chiefs star would be involved. 

“We are now 20 hours later and we haven't had an answer until now. Am I nervous? No, I'm angry. This is not correct. You tell us, ‘oh, this is the problem – he has Covid’. Ok, we have to change, but when the situation is not clear, you start thinking about things that are maybe not there,” said Broos during his announcement yesterday. 

The Belgian was firm on the stance that if Blom absconds his Bafana duties only to show up for his side’s MLS fixture against Salt Lake two days after the first leg against Liberia at Orlando Stadium next week, then the matter would be escalated to FIFA. 

But his remarks have been disputed by City’s sporting director Lutz Pfannenstiel, who gave a conclusive update to SABC Sport on Friday 

“The player has been sick since late last week and has not been able to train – and he’s definitely in no condition to fly for 15 hours,” Pfannenstiel explained. 

“We can’t even think about putting him on a football field at the moment. We have provided the paperwork and [results of] the test from our part. For me it is not the right thing to do to talk about the player’s Covid status in public.” 

The sporting director insisted City has been in touch with the SAFA medical department, even mentioning Dr Thulani Ngwenya, the chief medical officer, by name. 

“We have been in touch with the FA and our doctors are in touch, which is more than enough. We are of the opinion that the coach [Broos] should focus on football and not medical papers – that is the doctors’ responsibility.”