Chippa on hunt as coach Mokwena’s contract not renewed
Chilli Boys part ways with on-loan mentor Rulani Mokwena
Chippa United are on the lookout for a new coach after opting not to renew Rulani Mokwena’s interim contract.
Mokwena joined the Chilli Boys on loan from Orlando Pirates in March.
He only oversaw one fixture before the Covid-19 pandemic brought about an enforced lockdown countrywide.
Chippa COO Lukhanyo Mzinzi said yesterday the club had decided not to enter further negotiations with Mokwena, whose contract expires on Tuesday next week.
As the sports ministry on yesterday gave the green light for Premiership clubs to restart training, Chippa were working around the clock to sign a new coach.
“In the midst of uncertainty and in spite of everything including the announcement by the sports minister [Nathi Mthethwa], we as a club were uncertain as to when we will return to play.
“His representatives kept inquiring to make sure they were certain about his future.
“So we let them know about our decision to allow the coach to return home to Orlando Pirates,” Mzinzi said.
Last week, reports also surfaced that some Chippa players had been involved in group training at Kings Beach in Port Elizabeth, breaking level 3 lockdown regulations.
Sources claimed some training sessions were under the supervision of Mokwena.
At that stage, clubs were not allowed to train under level 3 as the Premier Soccer League (PSL), the SA Football Association (Safa) and Mthethwa were still discussing safety protocols around the safe return of football.
It was rumoured the club had been in contact with former coach Dan Malesela and that those talks had reached a dead end with the parties unable to reach an agreement. Mzinzi denied this.
“We have not spoken to anyone.
“As I said in the beginning, we are facing uncertainty over what is happening.
“We don’t know who our new coach will be at this stage but we are following up on all available avenues.
“Yes, it’s quite good that the minister announced that we will start contact training but no-one knows exactly when the PSL will resume,” Mzinzi said.
“There was hope of a return to football, but the crisis is deepening in the country in terms of cases of Covid-19 in schools, businesses, municipal governments and everywhere,” Mzinzi said.
Chippa are likely to start training at either the Westbourne
Oval or the university campus, possibly from next week.
“We have had discussions with the municipality as well as the Mandela Bay Development Agency which is our stadium manager.
“We are looking at the university as a possibility with the [Westbourne] Oval being our first choice but these facilities would need to be Covid compliant before we can train there. We are finalising the details with the municipality.”
Commenting on minister Mthethwa’s go ahead, Mzinzi said there were mixed feelings within the club about their imminent return to action.
“Yes we are excited to go back to what we know best, but at the same time, we respect human life.
“Our wish is that all of our players, staff and coaches are safe in this process, but I know we have seasoned leadership at the PSL, led by Dr Irvin Khoza.
“Every precaution will be taken to ensure everybody involved is safe, but we hoping and praying that something changes soon, because the numbers continue to grow in an alarming manner,” Mzinzi said.
He said Covid-19 testing on Chippa players and technical staff got under way on yesterday in small groups, with the process anticipated to be finished by tomorrow.
“We have already started with our testing in groups, but as you know, there is a huge backlog with test results not coming back in time.
“But the PSL has tried to make arrangements with national companies to try to get it prioritised.
“We started testing our players today [Wednesday] with the last group to be tested on Friday [tomorrow].
“We will then submit those results to the PSL,” he said.