Stuart Baxter on Friday morning revealed to the media that defender Rivaldo Coetzee is yet to report to the Bafana Bafana camp having asked for some time off to attend to his gravely ill mother.
Furthermore, the national team coach suggested that – while very sympathetic to the player – his failure to communicate had all but ruled him out of contention for the Africa Cup of Nations squad travelling to Egypt later this month.
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Coetzee was one of 30 players selected by Baxter in his provisional team, which will be reduced to 23 on Sunday.
The South African Football Association has also backed the coach on his decision to drop the player considering no one from the organisation has heard back from him since heading home to the Northern Cape.
"I think we should note that the coach was speaking as a member of the association when he gave an update on Rivaldo," said Dominic Chimhavi, a spokesperson for SAFA, when asked for clarity by the Siya crew.
"There are two players who have now been ruled out – one is Keagan Dolly through an injury and the other is Rivaldo Coetzee because he has not reported back to camp and by that he has ruled himself out."
Rivaldo's absence now takes the number of defenders who have withdrawn from the squad to three following the delay over paperwork for Joel Untersee and Nikola Tavares prior to the start of Bafana's camp in Johannesburg.
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