The first group of young soccer players from Cape Town, who were stranded in Europe, returned home on Wednesday.
Excited family members waited for them at the Cape Town International Airport with welcome signs.
One of the coaches with the group, Jesse Julius, says the biggest group will be departing from Lisbon, Portugal, on Wednesday evening.
Spokesperson for the Department of International Relations, Clayson Monyela, confirmed on social media that 16 people will be on that flight, arriving in Cape Town on Thursday.
This is reportedly one of three flights bringing the soccer team back home. They’ve been in Europe for a week longer than anticipated, after supposed visa challenges and high flight costs.
The South African Football Association plans to investigate the organisers, the BT Football Academy, after it emerged that it was not registered with the association.
The Western Cape MEC for Cultural Affairs Ricardo Mackenzie arrived in Lisbon on Monday evening to engage with the young Cape Town soccer team members who were earlier stranded in Spain.
He was meeting with the coaches and SA embassy staff in Lisbon to help ensure their safe and swift return home.
The circumstances that led to the children’s stranding are still unclear.
According to the BT Football Academy, which organised the trip, the team was stranded because they did not have sufficient funds for return flights.
The group, which includes players and their coaches, had travelled to Spain to compete in the Donosti Cup football tournament held in San Sebastián from 7 to 14 July.
Over the weekend, news emerged that the group was unable to return home due to what the academy attributed to the escalated cost of return flights.
According to a statement released by BT Football Academy, the purchase of a ticket for a return flight was delayed due to visa delays, which, in turn, made flights more expensive than anticipated.
“Visas were received merely a week before the intended departure. This created immense pressure on our team to secure flights within an extremely short timeframe. The cost of return flights so close to departure date proved unaffordable.”
The academy insisted that preparations had been made well in advance for other logistics, which were paid for by parents. According to reports, this amounted to R50,000.
It remains unclear how the team secured visas without proof of return flights. One coach, Jesse James Julius, later claimed in interviews that their return flights were reserved, but not fully paid.
READ: Cape Town kids stuck in Europe after football tour blunder
A local fundraising effort by a radio personality managed to secure enough funds to pay for their flights.
Huge shoutout to our international relations team in Portugal and the incredible coaches.
Our kids will be home soon!
Thank you to Tracey Lange, Avukile & also all the South Africans in Portugal who cooked, drove & cared. Ubuntu in action 🇿🇦❤️ https://t.co/b4QR1jaeZ9 pic.twitter.com/vIe5sjdiCq
— Ricardo Mackenzie MPP🇿🇦 (@ricardomackenzi) July 21, 2025
