The Confederation of African Football (Caf) general coordinator, Kabelo Bosilong, has dedicated his first ever Caf U20 African Cup of Nations medal to Wiseman Meyiwa, who retired from football due to a car accident.

The 19-year-old was forced into early retirement after a car accident left him wheelchair-bound.

Meyiwa was part of the South African national U17 (Amajimbos) and U20 (Amajita) sides which qualified for the 2015 Fifa U17 World Cup and the 2017 U20 World Cup tournament respectively.

Amajita qualified for their second consecutive Fifa U20 World Cup after finishing third in the U20 Afcon for the first time ever in their history of their participation in the junior continental tournament after beating Nigeria 5-3 on penalties.

Bosilong stated that what happened to the player was quite unfortunate, adding that Amajita did extremely well in this year’s biennial continental showpiece to honour Meyiwa’s name. He added that he was impressed by Amajita’s performance throughout the tournament to honour Meyiwa.

‘I was already in Niger when I heard about the news and what had happened to him (Meyiwa),’ Bosilong told the Safa website.

‘Meyiwa was a big part of this team and it was quite unfortunate what had happened to him. The lads (Amajita) did extremely well in how they carried themselves in the tournament, and you could tell that they were playing for him as well.

‘I have been working as a coordinator for Caf for quite some time now, and this is my first ever medal I have  received in my line of work. It just felt right from me to give it to him as a now-retired footballer and honour what he offered to this beautiful game called football. I wish him nothing but the best of luck in his future endeavours,’ he concluded.