Natasha Tsichlas laughs off Peter Khoabane’s allegations about match-fixing bribe from Sundowns

Former Mamelodi Sundowns supremo Natasha Tsichlas has laughed off allegations by former Vaal Professionals player Peter Khoabane that he received a bribe to help the Brazilians win the league in the late 1990s.

Khoabane, who earned one cap for Bafana Bafana and was part of the national team that won the country's maiden Cosafa Cup in 2002, made the serious allegations in a YouTube interview with a channel called TK Solutions TV.

A shorter video clip of the allegations made by Khoabane has been shared on Twitter. 

Khoabane, who also played for SuperSport United, did not mention the names of any individuals he claimed gave him and three teammates money to throw a game that he said Vaal Pros lost 4-1, handing Sundowns the league title.

“Sundowns were supposed to be winning their treble. If they won their match against us, they [would] win the treble. Mario Tuani was our coach and Raul Gonzalez was his assistant coach,” Khoabane said in the video interview.

“We were told, ‘Guys, there is something for you if you lose’. We were left with two matches but we were relegated already and [then] here is R20,000.

“I earn R1,500 and somebody tells me I am going to get R5,000 if I can make this treble possible.

“We played the first half and it was 0-0. At half time I asked him where the money was and he said, ‘The money is there’, and I said, ‘OK’. Second half the score was 4-1. Sundowns won the treble.

“Peter Khoabane and others, I don’t want to mention other people’s names because they might not be comfortable, but we were four. I was playing in defence and there were three defenders and one striker.

“I spoke to the other two defenders and the goalkeeper. The other defender didn’t know we were playing for Sundowns on that day. 

“The other striker doesn’t pass to the other striker and we lost 4-1 and we got paid. We got our money.”

Asked about the allegations, Tsichlas told TimesLIVE she found them laughable.

“I can’t even dignify these allegations with a response,” was all Tsichlas would say in response, laughing out loud at the allegation.

Khoabane’s recollection of some of the details of the match he appears to be referring to may have been eroded to some extent by time.

TimesLIVE’s research turned up a game that Sundowns won 3-0 away against Vaal Pros four matches from the end of the 1998-99 Premiership season.

Pros were relegated from the top flight that season, and Sundowns won the league on superior goal difference, ending jointly with Kaizer Chiefs on 75 points.

They also won the Rothmans Cup that season.

They exited in the second round of the season-ending then-BobSave Superbowl (now the Nedbank Cup) and the top eight competition was not played in 1998-99.