Blow for Bafana as Kutumela, Phete set to miss World Cup qulaifiers

Thabiso Kutumela and Thabang Phete will miss Bafana Bafana’s upcoming 2022 Fifa World Cup qualifiers after the duo tested positive for Covid-19.

Bafana are set to face the Warriors at National Sports Stadium in Harare on Friday, September 3.

They will, though, be without Mamelodi Sundowns striker Thabiso Kutumela and overseas-based defender Thabang Phete after they both tested positive for COVID-19 after the tests were conducted before the squad leave the country.

Bafana doctor Tshepo Molobi confirmed the news on Wednesday afternoon, but was clear to state that ll the other players and staff have returned negative tests.

"Unfortunately we have to report the two COVID cases that we've got in camp. Remember we did a round of testing on Wednesday morning and we started getting results from last night. Remember, for a large group like this, it's impractical to get the results all at once. We started getting the two flagged cases early in the morning. The earliest was Thibang Phete, who immediately isolated and later on, it emerged that Thabiso Kutumela also tested positive," Molobi told the SAFA media department.

"Of the 40 tests, those are the only two tests that came back positive. So, I can safely say that everybody else has tested negative.