Chiefs boss to turn the heat on Igesund
KAIZER Chiefs chairman Kaizer Motaung says the top-flight club will file a complaint to the SA Football Association (Safa) about Bafana Bafana coach Gordon Igesund.
Chiefs said Thursday they would not release the five Amakhosi players selected by Igesund for next month’s Cosafa Cup tournament in Zambia.
The five Chiefs players are Siphiwe Tshabalala, Bernard Parker, Reneilwe Letsholonyane, Tefu Mashamaite and Eric Mathoho.
Motaung said Chiefs manager Bobby Motaung and head coach Stuart Baxter had met with Igesund, and they informed him their players were tired after a long domestic season and would not be released.
Igesund, however, said Bobby Motaung had not confirmed in writing, as requested, that the players would be unavailable, so he had included them in his 20-man squad.
“We were clearly surprised that Mr Igesund chose Kaizer Chiefs players after this discussion,” Kaizer Motaung said in a statement yesterday.
“His comments are unfortunate and I take strong exception to his utterances. I will be writing to Safa to register my disappointment.”
Bafana, already without the services of Orlando Pirates players due to continental commitments, could find themselves without eight of the players selected by Igesund for their opening Cosafa Cup match – a quarterfinal against a yet undecided opponent.
SuperSport United have also withdrawn three players. —