Bafana Bafana head coach Hugo Broos has expressed his discontent at his side not being able to train at Stade Félix Houphouët Boigny a day before their latest 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifier against Benin.

It is understood that visiting teams are ‘entitled’ to a training session on the pitch where the match is scheduled to take place, on the day before the match.

However, South Africa have learnt that they are unable to undertake this provision given that Ivory Coast hosted Gambia at Stade Félix Houphouët Boigny in Abidjan on Monday night.

“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,” Broos expressed, according to the official SAFA website.

“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.

“I don’t understand. I understand it because there is another game. But this is bad when people who make the rules don’t follow the rules. 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? And you will tell me, yes, that’s for both teams. I don’t think so. I think Berlin has already trained in that stadium because they were here before us.

“So it’s all nice to say, follow the rules, follow this. We have to follow everything. But we have the right to train today in the stadium where the match takes place, and we can’t. And this is not honest and this is not correct.”