Johannesburg - Orlando Pirates have released a statement saying Pitso Mosimane "mislead" the public on the issue surrounding Alje Schut’s playing card.
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The Buccaneers stressed the fact that the club needed to “set the record straight” following Mosimane’s untrue and deliberately misleading comments when interviewed after the game on Wednesday, August 27.
When asked his views after losing 3-0 to Orlando Pirates, coach Mosimane said he would like to make a comment before talking about the game. He proceeded to say, “I don’t believe we could have won this match. First, I find it very, very strange that Orlando Pirates go to Alje Schut’s card, that is within our books, how do they know that, straight to Alje’s card, no one else, please man”, “I know what is going to happen to me now, I am going to be suspended”.
The statement on Pirates’ official website revealed that checking player’s playing cards is a natural routine which the Bucs representatives “discovered that Mr Alje Schut’s card had expired.”
When this issue was raised, Mr Mike Ntombela, Sundowns’ team manager advised coach Mosimane not to field the affected player. Coach Mosimane refused saying the player has a new card that is valid, and the valid card would be collected and made available for inspection. It is important to note that this inspection is done in time to provide a team unable to produce a valid players’ card an opportunity not to field the affected player. Whereas the inspection and validations need to be completed before the game starts, the Pirates team manager agreed when the match commissioner suggested that the validation be done at half time.
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It was due to the failure to produce the card that spectators who attended the match and television viewers witnessed the signing of protest form by the two club’s captains before the second half of the match could commence.
In conclusion the statement said that for coach Mosimane to assert that Pirates went “straight to Alje Schut’s card” and “no one else” is untrue and misleading.