Kaizer Chiefs’ player of the year and former Bafana Bafana midfielder John ”Shoes” Moshoeu was on Tuesday suspended by the club with immediate effect.
Moshoeu was also instructed by coach Ted Dumitru not to come to training, pending his appearance before the club’s disciplinary committee.
A hearing date is still to be confirmed, according to Chiefs communications manager Putco Mafani in a statement released by the club on Tuesday.
This follows statements allegedly made by Moshoeu in a Sunday newspaper where he is quoted to have said: ”The club has not addressed with players issues of incentive schemes and insurance against injuries and other accidents.”
He said this when discussing his participation in the African Champions League, particularly the game against AS Port Louis of Mauritius in Rustenburg on Saturday night.
Moshoeu was sent back to Johannesburg a few hours before Sunday’s crucial league match against struggling Manning Rangers in Durban.
This was after the management read the article. The match ended in a 2-2 draw.
Amakhosi ‘shocked’
Mafani said Amakhosi were shocked by what it called Moshoeu’s irresponsible media utterances, which according to the club could constitute misconduct according to the club’s media policies.
”These issues are discussed regularly between team management and the players, through relevant structures. Shoes is a member of the players’ committee by virtue of him being a senior player.
”Issues of insurance cover are standard in the players’ contracts regardless of which competition one plays. The same principle applied to the Mandela Cup and that was the agreement with the players … it still stands even now and players know this, so does Shoes as well.
”We have proof of meetings and correspondence with players where these issues were discussed and agreements reached, and Shoes is a signatory on the agreement documents with the club on behalf of players,” said Mafani.
”Everyone at the camp was surprised on Sunday that Moshoeu decided to drag the club to media warfare on an issue which ideally would be an internal enquiry. If he was not sure about anything, he could have approached Bobby [Motaung], the team manager.
”This is simple media management protocol which protects players, and in fact on most occasions Shoes has obtained permission and guidance and was never denied an opportunity to do an interview — but strangely this time he overlooked protocol.”
Moshoeu, who will now miss Wednesday’s game against Jomo Cosmos in Phokeng and the Champions League clash with AS Port Louis in Rustenburg on Saturday, could not be reached for comment. — Sapa