‘We dropped them’ – Broos reveals disciplinary issues among Bafana stars

Bafana Bafana coach Hugo Broos has hinted at disciplinary issues in the national team after revealing that he was forced to drop some players over some not so good behaviour.

Broos unveiled his 23-man squad for the friendly matches against Panama at Durban’s Moses Mabhida Stadium on March 27 followed by a second clash against the same opposition at the DHL Stadium in Cape Town four days later.

The veteran Belgian boss dropped 15 players from the preliminary squad with some like Thapelo Morena and Mohau Nkota missing out due to injury and bereavement but there were some big names who did not initially make the provisional squad.

Broos shares disciplinary concerns

That list includes Siyabonga Ngezana, Sipho Mbule, Thalenthe Mbatha and Elias Mokwana among others, who were key players at the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations but did not get a look-in this time. While not mentioning names or what the said players did, Broos says he saw things he did not like from some of them and had to crack the whip.

“This is something between Helman and me. We made an evaluation of AFCON I think three, four days after we came back and we saw things that couldn’t happen anymore,” Broos said on SABC on Thursday after unveiling his squad.

Bafana boss fires warning

“We also saw things that we knew that we could not change immediately. So we dropped them and we took other players and I hope those guys who are not there now are putting themselves in front of the mirror and asking themselves why I’m not with the national team anymore.”

Cases of indiscipline among Bafana Bafana players have been rare under Broos given his firm stance but he has had to deal with some errant behaviour from individuals which saw them dropped from the squad.

The said players will now be hoping to get back in the good books of Broos ahead of the 2026 World Cup.