19 February 2019 – CAF’s General Coordinator, Kabelo Bosilong, dedicated his first ever CAF U-20 Africa Cup of Nations medal to Wiseman Meyiwa who retired from football due to an unfortunate car accident.

Meyiwa (19) was part of South Africa’s National Under-17 (Amajimbos) and Under-20 (Amajita) sides which qualified for the 2015 FIFA Under-17 World Cup and the 2017 Under-20 World Cup tournaments respectively.

Bosilong stated that what happened to the player was quite unfortunate, adding that Amajita did extremely well in this year’s biennial continental showpiece to honour Meyiwa’s name.

Amajita qualified for their second FIFA Under-20 World Cup in a row after finishing within the top four of this year’s continental showpiece. The team finished third place for the first time ever in their history of participating in the junior continental tournament, after beating Nigeria 5-3 on penalties.

Both sides had played to a 0-0 draw after full time.

“I was already in Niger when I heard about the news and what had happened to him (Meyiwa),” Bosilong said. “Meyiwa was a big part of this team and it was quite unfortunate of what had happened to him.

“The lads (Amajita) did extremely well in how they carried themselves in the tournament and you could tell that they were playing for him as well.”

Bosilong, who has been working as a coordinator for CAF since 2014, said it just felt right to honour Meyiwa for being the player that he was.

“I have been working as a coordinator for CAF for quite some time now and this is my first ever medal I have ever received in my line of work,” Bosilong said.

“It just felt right from me to give it to him as a now retired footballer and honour what he offered this beautiful game called football. I wish him nothing but the best of luck in his future endeavours.”