Ahead of lifting the Afcon Under-20 competition cup, Amajita found themselves in a sticky situation in Egypt.
The entire team, including players, coach Raymond Mdaka, head of delegation and Safa NEC member Solly Mkhabela, team manager, Vincent Tseka, as well as the rest of technical support, found themselves paying never-ending visits to the Mercure Ismailia Forsan Island Hotel toilets in Egypt as grumbling stomachs sought relief.
Sunday World has established that the “food poisoning” was downplayed to spare Safa and CAF embarrassment and protect the hotel from bad publicity, as the incident happened during the crucial tournament of the Afcon 2025 championships.
The incident happened on May 14, the night before Amajita were to face Nigeria in the Afcon semifinals.
The situation was so bad that it is understood that the whole national team and technical team were going up and down banging on toilet doors to relieve themselves during the night at the hotel.
Insiders told Sunday World that the national team’s rumbling stomachs caused a stink at the hotel, to the point that the team’s medical doctor, Singe Chonco, had to work the whole night assessing the situation.
“Things were very bad at the hotel on that night. We ate the meal that contained liver and veggies in the dining room designated to us.
“On the other side of the hotel, the Nigerian national team was also dining, but they never experienced any challenges, but as for us, it was a mess,” said a member of the team who asked not to be named.
Another mole told Sunday World that it was strange that the entire South African squad and technical team members had stomach cramps and runny tummies after their meal.
“Coach Raymond Mdaka, the HOD Solly Mkhabela, Vincent Tseka and the team’s medical doctor, Singe Chonco, tried to deal with the situation, but they couldn’t, as they were also making their own never-ending visits to the bathroom.
“It was bad, as you could see us running up and down holding our pants, running to the toilets. Even the milk we were given didn’t help at all,” said a player.
Mdaka spoke briefly about the incident after the game, where Amajita defeated Nigeria 1-0 to book their ticket to the finals, where the South African team won the match against Morocco to clinch the cup.
“We thank the medical team. They had been up and down during the night, trying to help. Several personnel had a problem with running stomachs, even me, it wasn’t easy.
“We had a little doubt about the readiness of the team, but the medical team stated that I shouldn’t doubt anything,” said Mdaka while in Egypt during the interview with SABC Sports.
A mole in the technical team said that due to the crisis, some players were unwilling to play the following day, as they thought that they would have diarrhoea while on the field.
“These boys pleaded with the coach if they could be spared embarrassment, as they felt that they could see themselves wetting their pants while on the field. It was tough, but Dr Chonco, coach Tseka and Mkhabela told them that they shouldn’t worry about anything, as everything was under control.
“Even though some of the information was hidden from the coach, so as not to alarm him,” said a source.
Chonco confirmed on Friday that there was a “situation with diarrhoea”.
“We had a bit of a situation, and we don’t know what really went wrong, as it is difficult to say what the team ate. I was in the safe group, as I had no runny tummy.
You should also remember that we were moving hotels, and it’s difficult to say at which hotel we consumed the suspect food. We managed to treat the diarrhoea. We had enough medical supplies.
“There was the liver, which I also ate, but I didn’t get sick. The fingers were pointing toward the liver, as even the technical team was affected. We asked the hotel to get us fresh juice and bottled water,” said Chonco.
She said that she had been worried about the flu and the changing season, hence she carried the vital medical supplies. CAF’s spokesperson Lux September: “This is for the first time I’ve heard of anything like this. CAF is not aware.” Safa did not respond to specific questions sent to them.
Sunday World has contacted the Mercure Ismailia Forsan Island hotel representatives for comment, but no response had been received at the time of going to print.
