Bafana Bafana coach Hugo Broos was left fuming after his team was blocked from training at the Felix Houphouet Boigny Stadium in Abidjan, Ivory Coast, their match venue for the 2026 FIFA WCQs Grp C match against Benin.

The match is scheduled for Tuesday evening.

South Africa were denied entry to train at the venue because there’s a game – Ivory Coast vs Gambia – set for Monday night.

Speaking at a press conference ahead of Tuesday’s game, Broos hit out at authorities, saying:

“First of all, I have to tell you that I’m really not satisfied with the decision that we can’t have a pre-match training in the stadium where the game takes place.

“I think this is a FIFA rule, that every team has the right to have a preliminary training before the game of 60 minutes in the stadium where you play, where the match takes place.”

The gaffer added: “Will that have an influence on the game? I don’t know. But I know if, tomorrow after the game, I’m not at the press conference, there will be a sanction, so we have to follow the rules, where are the rules now?

“You will tell me, ‘Oh, it’s for both teams.’ I don’t think so. I think Benin has already trained in that stadium because they were here sooner than we were.

“So it’s all nice to say, ‘Oh, follow the rules! Follow this!’ We have to follow everything, but we have the right to train in the stadium today where the match will take place, and we can’t, and that is not honest and that is not correct.”

Bafana Bafana are currently leading in Group C with ten points, while Benin are second with eight points.