Hugo Broos has lashed out at the CAF, the governing body of football in Africa, over the hotel facility assigned to the South Africa national team at AFCON 2025.

Broos bemoaned the distance of where the Bafana Bafana contingent are based, claiming that their base is 45 minutes away from their training pitch.

The 73-year-old also indicated his unhappiness with his South African entourage having their training where the Morocco national team train.

South Africa will train in the Mohammed VI Football Complex, located in the nearby town of Salé, Rabat, Morocco, after having their group phase outings in Marrakesh.

Should the Atlas Lions of Morocco defeat Tanzania in their Last 16 showdown of AFCON 2025, they will square up against the winner of the clash involving South Africa and Cameroon, the two nations who have been allotted to the same facilities - training-wise.

Speaking with the press ahead of Bafana Bafana’s clash with Cameroon on Sunday, January 4, 2025, Hugo Broos, the former Club Brugge coach said:

“We are 45 minutes away from our training pitch, so that means that, like yesterday, we were more than three hours away for training; 45 minutes to drive, one hour 15 minutes of training, then 45 minutes to drive back.”

“Such things don’t make me happy. In a tournament like the AFCON, training pitches can be closer to the hotel than 45 minutes away. We lost an hour and a half travelling on the bus.”

Broos also touched on the upcoming encounter involving his side and the country (Cameroon) he led to win the 2017 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) in Gabon.

Hugo Broos tagged the upcoming game as “a special one” for him, despite the team being a near-completely different proposition to the one he tutored to glory.

However, he admitted his emotional attachment to the Indomitable Lions but emphasized his focus on defeating his former side.

The ex-Anderlecht boss shared:

“Tomorrow’s game is surely a special game for me. If you win an AFCON with a country, then a part of them stays in your heart, but tomorrow I can’t have mercy on them because I am the coach of South Africa now and I want to win the game.”

South Africa came out victorious in two of their group assignments, beating Angola and Zimbabwe in their first and last group games respectively, sandwiched between a loss to Egypt.

Nigeria eliminated South Africa in the semifinals of the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) held in Ivory Coast and they will be aiming for gold this time around.