Rulani Mokwena’s future at Chippa United in doubt

The 33-year-old joined the Port Elizabeth club on a loan deal from Orlando Pirates in March and that lapses at the end of June.

The clubs must now jointly decided on his future with Chippa COO Lukhanyo Mzinzi saying earlier in the week that he was hoping to make an announcement on whether to extend or not by Friday.

But when contacted by TimesLIVE on Friday‚ Mzinzi said he was still not in a position to comment on the speculation over Mokwena’s future at this stage.

Mokwena’s phone also rang unanswered and he did not respond to SMSes.

The situation does not appear positive for Mokwena‚ who earlier this week said he was still waiting for his agent to hear from Chippa or Pirates.

During the week reports also surfaced that some Chippa players were involved in group training at Kings Beach in Port Elizabeth‚ breaking level three lockdown regulations.

Sources also said some training sessions were under the supervision of Mokwena. It was also reported in the Daily Sun this week that he threatened to cut salaries of those players who were against training at the beach after they had voiced their concerns.

Clubs are not permitted to train under level three of the lockdown regulations as the Premier Soccer League (PSL)‚ the SA Football Association (Safa) and sports minister Nathi Mthethwa are still discussing safety protocols on the safe return of football.

Even if those protocols are passed‚ clubs still cannot train in public places.

Mzinzi said Chippa have been looking for an suitable facility to use while awaiting the green light to start training.

The Chilli Boys have been forced to look for an alternative training ground as their headquarters at the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium has been turned into a Covid-19 pandemic quarantine facility.

“We are aware that the stadium is being used as the quarantine site and we are happy to contribute in terms of saving lives‚” Mzinzi said.

“We think that we are going to find an alternative venue‚ which is Wolfson Stadium. The municipality is working 24-hours-a-day to make sure that it is ready for us to train on.”