Chippa United Focus on Themselves, Aiming to Compound Moroka Swallows' Relegation and Player Strike Woes

Chippa United Focus on Themselves, Aiming to Compound Moroka Swallows' Relegation and Player Strike Woes

Keba Mothoagae
updated at April 12, 2023 at 8:02 PM
In this article:
South Africa Premier Soccer League logo
ZA Premier League
South Africa
  • Relegation-threatened Chippa United are looking to move as far as possible from the drop in the DStv Premiership
  • The Chilli Boys will take on another club facing the chop in the form of Moroka Swallows on Saturday afternoon
  • Both teams are facing trouble off the pitch, but a Chippa player believes that their issues won't be a factor in the crunch encounter

Moroka Swallows' off-field troubles won't be of significance as far as Chippa United are concerned.

The two relegation-threatened teams will meet in a crunch six-pointer in the DStv Premiership on Saturday afternoon. The Chilli Boys are in 13th place on 28 points, while the Dube Birds are in 15th (a promotion/relegation play-off position) on 24 points

chippa united, moroka swallows, thabiso lebitso, relegation, dstv premiership
Chippa United Thabiso Lebitso is not focused on Moroka Swallows' woes.
Source: UGC

A win or draw for Chippa will confirm their status in next year's top-flight season. Their opponents are in big trouble going into the match, with players having refused to train after not receiving their salaries, as was reported by IOL.

However, according to SowetanLIVE, Chippa United's Thabiso Lebitso said this was not going to factor into how they approach Swallows in Johannesburg.

The midfielder said:

“I saw the article even though I didn’t go through it, but I saw that they were on strike and didn’t go to training. I don’t know what’s happening in their camp, so we can’t hope that it will work to our advantage because we don't know if they have fixed that or not.
"The club can give them bonuses, you will never know and when they come to the match, they'll give their all. The players know that they have to do well to get something from other teams next. We are focusing on ourselves and not what’s happening there.”

It's in United's interest that they do well following troubling developments in their camp. Sports Brief reported that the club became the latest PSL side to receive a transfer ban from FIFA after they failed to pay former player Augustine Kwem.

Kwem took Chippa to FIFA after they failed to pay an outstanding R200,000 of his signing-on fee and now the club cannot sign new players for a year.

DStv Premiership match report: Chippa United and Baroka FC play out thrilling draw (highlights)

Another unusually high-scoring match occurred this weekend in the DStv Premiership.

As reported on Sports Brief, Chippa United and Baroka FC played out a highly entertaining draw at the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium in Gqeberha.

Riaan Hamanub opened the scoring for Chippa United, before Dan Ndlovu equalised for Baroka FC in the 75th minute. Decide Chauke looked to have stolen the game for Bakgaga in the 83rd minute, but Thokozani Sekotlong's 91st-minute goal saved a point for the Chilli Boys.

Authors
Keba Mothoagae photo
Keba Mothoagae
Editor- Local Desk
Tags
DStv PremiershipSouth Africa