Ajax smoke the peace pipe with defender Coetzee

16 January 2017 - 18:47 By Nick Said
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Ajax Cape Town CEO Ari Efstathiou Efstathiou has confirmed that all is forgiven with regards to centre-back Rivaldo Coetzee.

The Bafana Bafana defender was dropped from the team for “disciplinary reasons” in Ajax’s final premiership game of 2016‚ a 1-0 success over Chippa United.

Neither coach Stanley Menzo nor Efstathiou would give details of what led to the axing‚ except to say that Coetzee had crossed some sort of line.

“It was for disciplinary reasons‚ full stop.

"That is all I will say‚” Efstathiou said at the time‚ before confirming that the axing was the decision of Menzo and not club management‚ who nevertheless backed the coach.

“He is a very strict disciplinarian and that’s good‚ it’s what these young boys need.”

But Efstathiou confirms that there have been no lasting consequences and that Coetzee is once again available for selection when the league programme resumes after the African Nations Cup next month.

“He returned to training with the rest of the team on January 10 and has been preparing for the restart of the league like everybody else.” - TMG Digital

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