Sikhakhane: Chippa are racist

Cape Town - Roger Sikhakhane has labelled Chippa United as racists, claiming he was sacked as head coach due to the fact the club "do not believe in black coaches".

Read: Sikhakhane fumes at Chippa

The tactician signed a three-year deal with the Chilli Boys in 2014 after taking the side from relegation candidates to top-eight contenders this season.

However, the Port Elizabeth-based outfit last week, in a shock turn of events, sacked the tactician in favour of bringing in German coach and former Bloemfontein Celtic mentor Ernst Middendorp.

Sikhakhane has since launched a scathing attack on Chippa and, more accurately, chief executive Peter Koutroulis and technical director Mich d'Avary.

"They (Koutroulis and D'Avary) were not happy that we were winning and tried to sabotage us," a furious Sikhakhane told The Sowetan.

"Middendorp was always on Peter's tongue, even when he was still at [Bloemfontein] Celtic. I'm not against the appointment of Middendorp but I could see that they wanted me out and that they wanted him to take over.

"When we went for the away game to Celtic [in November], we travelled by bus and it took us nine hours to get there. Usually we fly, but they told me flights were fully booked, even though I had given them the programme of our matches a month before.

"They did not believe in black coaches. When things got bad, they shifted the blame on me. They wanted me to fail. I was offered a job as a technical advisor and scout (after being fired) but it's embarrassing for me to go from coach to scout. I refused."

Club owner Chippa Mpengesi has since refused to comment on the situation, saying only: "Talk to Koutroulis about that."