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Bucs 'surprised' by Benni news

Johannesburg – According to Orlando Pirates’ media manager, Mickey Modisane, Benni McCarthy’s retirement took the club by surprise.

In his weekly column on Pirates’ official website, Modisane writes that although the club have experienced a difficult, trophyless season, the club are looking forward to kicking off pre-season preparations.

However, he then went onto to allude that even though McCarthy’s contract was set to expire at the end of June, he did not inform the club of his impending retirement, instead finding out through the media.

"As you all know, it is an open secret that he (McCarthy) has retired from the game. To us, his retirement came as a shock as we were expecting his return with the rest of our playing personnel moreover; his contract still has few days to expiry.

"Unfortunately he took that decision without informing or consulting us - we only heard about his permanent departure from the media," wrote Modisane.

Modisane also confirmed that the futures of Moeneeb Josephs, Mark Mayambela and Robyn Johannes are still undecided as their contracts are also set to expire at the end of June and that they may well be leaving the club.

"I must however bring it to your attention that as a club, we are not going and never in our history, hold a player against his will of wanting to leave the club - and if a player doesn’t want us to exercise our right to extend or offer him a new contact, we are most definitely going to let him go," Modisane added.

He ended off his column by wishing former State President, Nelson Mandela a speedy recovery, before reminding fans of their upcoming CAF Champions League fixture in the Democratic Republic of Congo against Leopards.

 
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