BAROKA FC will not renew the contract of veteran defender Thabiso Semenya.
SunSport has reliably learnt that Baroka management opted not to renew the 36-year-old’s contract which expires at the end of this month, because he refused on two occasions to obey club instructions.
He is also accused of insubordination after he refused to postpone his wedding in April this year.
Semenya said the club chairman, Khurishi Mphahlele, asked him to move the wedding to the end of the season, but the player declined saying it was impossible as all logistics were in place.
“The chairman was willing to meet me half-way with repaying of all contractors in case we move the date,” explains Semenya.
Semenya defied club management when the players were asked to hand in their cellphones ahead of the crunch match against Maritzburg United at home in the last game of the season.
He explains further: “It was two days before the game when the chairman asked to hand in cellphones, and I spoke to him personally and explained that I am a family man, staying with them. If something happens at the house, how are they going to get hold of him. The alarm system is under my name. Those were my reasons.”
Semenya and former Orlando Pirates star Thandani “Bibo” Ntshumayelo were the only players who didn’t comply with the club’s instruction over the handing over of their phones.
Ntshumayelo’s contract was also not renewed.
The veteran defender joined Bakgaga at the start of last season from provincial rivals Polokwane City and was named the club’s vice captain.
He deputised when club captain Mduduzi Mdantsane wasn’t playing.
According to SunSport’s insider, Semenya is said to have annoyed the club’s management when he refused to follow orders.
Said our source: “The match against Sundowns was on the same day as Semenya’s wedding and he missed that game. It was a rescheduled game because of Sundowns’ Caf Champions League commitments and both the team and the player were caught off guard.”
Then came the final straw over the handing over of the players phones, the insider added: “All the other players complied and handed in their phones as requested.”
Semenya said he understood the club’s position to refuse to renew his contract: “I am not angry! This is part of football.”
When contacted for comment, Mphahlele side stepped the issue, saying that when it comes to player movements it is only the coach who can comment.
When SunSport phoned coach Wedson Nyirenda on Semenya’s contract, he passed the buck back to the club’s administration saying only management can comment on players contracts.
