South Africa’s World Cup squad departed for the tournament a day late on Monday and left its assistant coach behind after problems securing travel visas for the United States.
South Africa plays co-host Mexico in the opening game of the World Cup on June 11 in Mexico City. It plays one of its group games in the U.S.
The team was due to depart on Sunday but that was delayed because it had not received visas for some players and staff members, the sports minister said.
Sports Minister Gayton McKenzie posted on X that the “debacle” over visas was caused by an administrative error by team officials and called it embarrassing. He demanded a report from the South African Football Association.
“We are being made to look like fools,” McKenzie wrote on social media.
The association said on Monday it had secured visas for all the players and they departed from Johannesburg on a charter flight on Monday afternoon. However, SAFA President Danny Jordaan said assistant coach Helman Mkhalele was initially refused a visa by the U.S., with no reason given, and his travel documents were still outstanding.
“We hope that will also be resolved and all of our people will be going,” Jordaan told reporters at OR Tambo International Airport.
SAFA apologized for the 24-hour delay and said it received help from the South African Foreign Ministry and the U.S. Consulate in Johannesburg to resolve the visa problems.
South Africa will play at the World Cup for the first time since hosting in 2010. It also faces the Czech Republic in Atlanta and South Korea in Monterrey, Mexico, in Group A. The squad will be based in the Mexican city of Pachuca and plays a final warmup game there against Jamaica on Friday.
South Africa’s team management came under scrutiny for an administrative error in World Cup qualifying when midfielder Teboho Mokoena played in a game against Lesotho despite being suspended. South Africa was stripped of its victory, threatening its hopes of qualifying.
The team overcame that to qualify top of its group by one point.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.