adminanother year.
There has been intense speculation, here and in South Africa, regarding the future of Mwanjali amid reports that Sundowns were going to off-load him, after his contract expired at the end of last season.
The reports also claimed that Sundowns were reluctant to offer Mwanjali another deal because of concerns that his ban for life by Zifa, allegedly for the part he played in the Asiagate match-fixing scandal, would be endorsed by Fifa.
Mwanjali has appealed against that ban, with full support from Sundowns, who engaged the biggest law firm in Africa, Edward, Nathan, Sonnenberg, to help his battle to clear his name from the scandal.
That Sundowns have decided to extend Mwanjali’s stay, on their books for another year, demonstrates the confidence the club has that, in the conclusion of this long-running case, the player would still be having the freedom to play his game.
The club announced on its official website yesterday that Mwanjali was one of the 10 players who had been offered new deals and they also include another Zimbabwe international, midfielder Lionel Mtizwa.
There is a possibility Mtizwa could still be loaned to another South African club, as was the case last season, when he played for Pretoria University.
The Sundowns’ management appear to view Mtizwa as the long-term replacement of their decorated veteran, Esrom Nyandoro.
“Mamelodi Sundowns have moved swiftly to exercise the option of extending the contracts of as many as 10 players by a further year, which means the affected players will be in the Club’s books until June 2014,” the club said on its website.
“Method Mwanjali, Dennis Onyango, Walter Maponyane, Thela Ngobeni, Musa Nyatama, Lionel Mtizwa, Thabo Makgothi, Seun Ledwaba, Xolani Mdaki (and) Nyasha Mushekwi (while) Calvin Marlin will be leaving Sundowns in search of a new home.
“Towards the end of his contract, the former Bafana Bafana goalkeeper approached the club to establish whether he would get an extension on his contract or not and was advised accordingly.
“Other news that have been doing rounds in media circles for some time now are the stories linking SuperSport United forward, Kermit Erasmus and Lesotho international, Litsebe Marabe, to The Brazilians.
“Mamelodi Sundowns would like to put on record that the two players are not being persued by the club.”
A number of reports have indicated that Erasmus was being targeted by Sundowns who were ready to offer Mushekwi to SuperSport in an exchange deal.
But the announcement by the club ends all that speculation and Mushekwi, barring a move to Europe, would be at the Brazilians for another season.
The former champions are hoping for a better campaign, in the coming season, after they struggled in the past season leading to the firing of Dutch coach, Johaan Neeskens who was replaced by Pitso Mosimane.
The former Bafana Bafana coach has a lot of respect for Zimbabwean players, saying they work harder than their colleagues, and brought his team here for camping during the season-break.
The Sundowns’ players, who have been on holiday since May 20, are expected back at work on June 24 for pre-season and they will travel to Ghana and Lesotho.
Online Reporter