Illustrative image: Soccer balls on the pitch before the Italian Serie A match between SS Lazio and Juventus FC at the Olimpico stadium in Rome, Italy, on 10 May 2025. (Photo: EPA / Riccardo Antimani) 
The 22 stranded junior South African soccer players in Lisbon, Portugal, along with three coaches, will be transported back to South Africa after fundraising and private sponsorship secured their imminent return.
Radio personality Tracey Lange, through her Tracey Lange Cares initiative, raised the money to secure return flights for the 28 South Africans.
The players were meant to return to South Africa but their soccer academy that sent them, BT Football Academy, failed to buy return-flight tickets, with CEO and founder Brandon Timmy excusing the price of the return flights at the time of purchase as the reason for the ordeal.
BT Football Academy had two squads, an under-14 and under-19 team, taking part in the age-group Donosti Cup tournament in Spain, and flew a squad of 35 players and four coaches to the country.
Only 10 players and one coach returned last week – after an additional R15,000 was paid by the parents of the young athletes, above the R50,000 initial payment for the trip, while the other 25 athletes and three coaches trekked to neighbouring Portugal by bus.
“We can confirm that we have managed to raise the funds to pay for all 28 flight tickets and with the assistance of TAAG [Airlines] have managed to secure seats on flights within the next few days,” Lange, who has been using her online platform to raise funds, said. “Everyone will be home by the end of the week.”
Church steps in
The Christ Culture Church noted that it had covered nearly all the costs of the 28 stranded South Africans through Tracey Lange Cares.
“As the major sponsor, we covered approximately 95% of the total flight costs,” it said. “At the time of payment, R54,000 had been received through public financial donations, and many more contributions – financial and in-kind – have continued to come in since.
“This is more than a rescue – it is a testimony of what can happen when a nation chooses unity over division, action over apathy, and love over fear.”
According to its statement, TAAG Airlines reduced the cost of the flight, which had been the biggest hindrance in Timmy’s failure to buy the return-flights.
Timmy had not responded to Daily Maverick’s request for comment by the time of publication. DM