Public donations help secure plane tickets to bring home some members of SA soccer team stranded in Portugal

CAPE TOWN - EWN can confirm that 12 tickets have been secured to bring some players from the BT Football Academy back home.  

Eleven children, along with one coach, are expected to land in Cape Town on Wednesday evening.

The players were in Spain, taking part in a major international football tournament, the Donosti Cup.

An exciting sports trip to Spain has turned into a nightmare for a group of young football players from Cape Town.

The team from BT Football Academy left Cape Town on 6 July and was expected to return on the 14th.

But the coaches and the young players soon found themselves stranded in Spain.
  
When asked about their return tickets, Brandon Timmy, the owner of BT Football Academy, allegedly told the coaches that return tickets were never paid for.

Nine players and one coach returned to Cape Town on Saturday after their parents and family members intervened and got them on a plane.

Currently, the rest of the team are in Lisbon, Portugal.
 
KFM’s Tracey Lange has confirmed that through donations, 11 players, along with one coach, will be returning to Cape Town on Wednesday evening.

"Unfortunately, there is no money forthcoming from the academy at all, well not necessarily money, it's also just flight tickets that were meant to be booked for these kids through the academy and those are not forthcoming, unfortunately. So, we are in the process of raising the funds to ensure that the children get back to South Africa."

Flights for two coaches and 11 children are still needed.

Donation details can be found on the Primedia Plus website and app.