League Winning Mamelodi Sundowns Coach Rulani Mokwena Accused of 'Destroying' Promising Player's Future

• Mamelodi Sundowns coach Rhulani Mokwena has been accused of being unreasonable and stunting the growth of a promising footballer
• Mokwena is allegedly holding back Lesego Motlhamme from departing the former's amateur club, Black Poison
• Motlhamme is on the radar of another amateur side in Varsity College, which has levelled the accusation against Mokwena

Mamelodi Sundowns coach Rulani Mokwena has been accused of stunting the development of a promising footballer.

Mokwena owns an amateur team Black Poison, which is currently the home of 27-year-old player Lesego Motlhamme. It has been alleged that Poison is refusing to grant the want-away Motlhamme a clearance so that he can further his career elsewhere.

According to SowetanLIVE, education institute Varsity College wanted to sign him for its amateur team while also offering him a bursary to study with them. The publication's exclusive report quoted Linda Shange, a member of Varsity College's technical team, detailing how the saga unfolded.

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Football

Shange said:

“In 2018, Lesego was playing for Varsity College in the SAB League. In 2019 he left to join Rulani’s team, Black Poison. Last year, before the SAB season started, around September, the player asked Varsity College to offer him a sports bursary because he’s now 27 years old, so he’s realised it’s not going to be easy to be a professional footballer."

“We tried to help him by getting his clearance from Black Poison, so that we’d sign him and offer him that bursary because before leaving us he was already studying, so he wants to continue. But Rulani has denied him that opportunity. Rulani is destroying Motlhamme's life and future.”

According to the article, the publication tried to contact Mokwena for his side of the story. The coach allegedly responded by SMS saying:

“I don’t get involved [with] clearances, especially when there are lies.”

It went on to state that Mokwena referred the reporter to a person he called “chairlady”, but the number he provided went straight to voicemail.

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Mamelodi Sundowns coach Rulani Mokwena shares fanboy moment with Nigerian legend Jay Jay Okocha

While he might not be enjoying good press elsewhere, Mamelodi Sundowns coach Rulani Mokwena proved there is always someone who you look up to and admire.

As reported on Sports Brief, this was the case recently when he and former Nigerian dribbling wizard Augustine "Jay-Jay" Okocha crossed paths. The two gentlemen were part of SuperSport's panel of experts for the entirety of the 2021 African Cup of Nations in Cameroon.

Mokwena shared a photo of himself and Okocha on his own Twitter account gushing in praise of the football legend.