20 May 2026 – South African Football Association (SAFA) Chief Medical Officer Dr Thulani Ngwenya is heading to this year’s FIFA World Cup where he will serve as Doping Control Officer.
Dr Ngwenya will be based in Dallas in the United States of America from 7 June – 15 July 2026 and the FIFA Anti-Doping Unit (FADU) has assigned him under In and Out-of-Competition Anti-Doping Controls.
The SAFA Chief Medical Officer is widely regarded as one of the world’s top officials in the field and often lends his vast experience to FIFA, the Olympics, CAF, COSAFA and many other tournaments on the globe.
“It is indeed a huge, huge, huge, huge honour and a privilege to represent South Africa and the continent at large at the FIFA World Cup in the United States of America, Canada and Mexico. You know, I take so much pride knowing that I’m representing the continent in the medical division in the World Cup,” he said.
“And this then says that as South Africa, we are blessed because I believe that I’m one of the many that have got the expertise to do well at the international stage. So this is a huge honour for me to be chosen among many to represent Africa and in particular South Africa in such a prestigious tournament. I also want to take this opportunity to thank the South African Football Association leadership under the tutelage of President Dr. Danny Jordaan for always supporting me.
“I got here in the Association when I was still very young, in the year 2014, and the Federation and the leadership have always supported me. I grew in stature through COSAFA, CAF and now FIFA. Things couldn’t have been what they are now without the support from the leadership, and without the eye of the leadership seeing great potential in me.
“I also want to thank my family, my wife and everyone that is around me, including the church that has always supported me. So, yeah, I’m looking forward to the tournament and I’m also looking forward to make the country very, very proud. Yeah, it is a huge, huge, huge, huge honour. And it is the first time ever in the history of football where we have an African going all the way to the semifinals as a medical officer or a doping control officer. So this is not something small and I am really honoured.
Dr Ngwenya has also represented South Africa at the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris. Among his many other highlights, the respected medical official was appointed as the Doping Control Officer for the FIFA World Cup in Qatar in 2022. He was also appointed by FIFA as a Doping Control Officer for the FIFA Under-20 World Cup in Argentina in 2023. He also served in the same position during the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) in Cameroon in 2022, at the 2024 continental tournament in Côte d’Ivoire and the 2025 AFCON in Morocco. He is also the Vice President of the CAF Medical Commission.
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