FIFA have confirmed that matches at the 2014 African Nations Championship (CHAN) finals in South Africa will be given full "A" status in a contradiction of past precedent.
There has been a debate over whether matches that have a restriction on team selection such as Chan, which allows only home-based players, should be considered full international games.
The first two instalments of the Chan finals, in Ivory Coast in 2009 and Sudan in 2011, were not given full international status and were rendered effectively exhibition matches.
And in the qualifiers for the 2014 finals only some of the games were considered "A" games.
It is muddled thinking by the governing body, who confirmed to Sowetan via e-mail that they had granted full Fifa "A" status to the tournament.
That is a boost for Bafana Bafana coach Gordon Igesund, who is hoping to get SA up the world rankings by going far in the tournament on home soil.
There has been a debate over whether matches that have a restriction on team selection such as Chan, which allows only home-based players, should be considered full international games.
The first two instalments of the Chan finals, in Ivory Coast in 2009 and Sudan in 2011, were not given full international status and were rendered effectively exhibition matches.
And in the qualifiers for the 2014 finals only some of the games were considered "A" games.
It is muddled thinking by the governing body, who confirmed to Sowetan via e-mail that they had granted full Fifa "A" status to the tournament.
That is a boost for Bafana Bafana coach Gordon Igesund, who is hoping to get SA up the world rankings by going far in the tournament on home soil.
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