Is Mokoena the man to keep Celtic in Bloemfontein?

THE sense of apprehension regarding the future of Bloemfontein Celtic is palpable.

No one knows how this tale will end. For now the battle for the ownership of Celtic is between businessman Lebo Mokoena and TS Galaxy owner Tim Sukazi.

As it stands, Mokoena seems to be in the driver’s seat as Sukazi has opted to take a back seat in the proceedings. In an interview with Independent Media, Mokoena was confident he could help Celtic stay in Bloemfontein.

“Our aim is to come in as a sponsor,” he explained.

“We hope that by the end of this week something concrete will come up. We need supporters. We need over 200 000 people to save the financial status of Celtic. We are still in negotiations with Celtic. We don’t want to put ourselves under a lot of pressure. We will sit down and see if the investment that we want to put (in) does make sense.”

Celtic are going through turbulent financial times.

“If you want to give me that title, I’ll accept it. I wasn’t looking to be a chairman but should it happen, then why not,” he answered when quizzed about the call from the

Celtic supporters for him to take over the ownership of the club.

“Obviously we have to go through the financial history of the club in order to see where they went wrong. It came as a surprise that a club like Celtic can go into a financial crisis,” Mokoena added.

Celtic’s challenges in the boardroom have happily not impacted their performance on the field. They are safely away from the regulation zone in ninth spot on the Premiership table at the moment, and they are due to compete in the semi-finals of the Nedbank Cup, where they are pitted against Baroka FC.

“We want to do everything and then once everything has been concluded we can make noise… There is a possibility of good news by the end of this week. We are hoping that it will happen. I prefer not to go in to much detail, so that it won’t come across as if I’m making noise, “Mokoena stated.

If Mokoena does succeed in his bid to keep Celtic in the Free State, it will put paid to Sukazi’s bid to pounce on Celtic’s elite League status and move Phunya Sele Sele to Mpumalanga.