Bafana Bafana coach Molefi Nteski has revealed that Polokwane City goalkeeper Cyril Chibwe rejected a call-up to the national team, instead opting to represent Zambia at international level.

Bafana were in search of a replacement after an injury forced Bidvest Wits keeper Brandon Petersen to withdraw from the squad, who are preparing to face Mali in the Nelson Mandela Challenge in Port Elizabeth on Saturday.

Ntseki attempted to bring in Chibwe as a replacement, but after weighing up his options he decided to join up with the Zambia squad after they contacted him before Bafana had.

‘We made small research on Cyril Chibwe from Polokwane City, and he’s a South African, born in North West, and we sent a call-up for him to join us for this camp,’ explained Ntseki.

‘Unfortunately, he will be playing for his father’s country, which is Zambia. So, he will be joining the Zambian team in camp and that is why we have Ricardo coming in – they are the same age, born in 1993.

‘I think maybe he [Chibwe] was approached long before us, maybe they made the necessary preparations for him to join the Zambian team because if he did not have a Zambian passport, they would have had to do the necessary documents for him in order to play.

‘But I think it is a good thing, we also have some players playing overseas that we feel they need to come and play for Bafana Bafana, and we are also in the process of talking to them, their parents and their clubs so they can have South African citizenship and play for the national team.’