Motaung snipes at Downs over Toure

KAIZER Chiefs football manager Bobby Motaung could not resist taking a dig at rivals Mamelodi Sundowns after ‘missing’ Ivory Coast defender Ismael Toure was spotted at the Pretoria club’s training camp in Rustenburg a couple of days ago.

Toure‚ who had an unsuccessful trial at the Naturena side‚ disappeared after he was dropped off at O R Tambo International Airport by the Chiefs driver and club officials became concerned when they discovered that his ticket back to Ivory Coast had remained unused.

Times Media Digital exclusively revealed that Toure was seen at a Sundowns training camp and Motaung said the bizarre incident was disappointing.

‘‘I think it was unprofessional of the player and whoever took him from the airport‚” said Motaung.

‘‘It shows that we are still not mature enough as people in this game. But he was not our player and he belongs to (a club in the) Ivory Coast.

‘‘We made it clear to his team that we were releasing him back to them after his trial.

‘‘For us‚ fortunately we had enough time with the player and he was not what we were looking for. We were looking for a natural‚ left central defender. He was one of the players we were looking at. But we are not desperate in that position.”

The strange story had fans on the edge of their seats when it emerged that after failing to impress coach Steve Komphela at Naturena‚ the player failed to board a plane that was booked for him to return to his country.

It emerged that Toure joined the Sundowns players in their training camp in the North West. — TMG