Black Leopards fire striker Thuso Phala

The relationship between Black Leopards and one of their vastly experienced players, Thuso Phala, is something of the past. The news was confirmed by the player himself.

According to Phala, he received a letter from the club on Wednesday, informing him about the termination of his contract with immediate effect.

Asked about the factors that had led to his dismissal, Phala refused to go deeper into the matter, saying some problems had developed between him and the club during the past weeks. He indicated that the problems seemed like minor ones at first, but he later realized that he was underestimating the case.

According to him, the matter took an ugly turn when he was summoned to appear before the club’s disciplinary committee to give answers to charges of misconduct.  

Phala vehemently refused to disclose the nature of misconduct. He further stated that even after appearing before the disciplinary committee, he had not thought that the matter would lead to his expulsion. Phala said he had pleaded with the club to allow him to play in their six remaining league matches, so that he could retire in a ceremonious way.

He further indicated that he was planning to hang up his soccer boots at the end of the current season. The 33-year-old striker played 13 matches for Lidoda Duvha since his arrival from SuperSport United at the beginning of the season. The last time Phala played a competitive game was on 21 December when the Thohoyandou side lost 1-2 to Orlando Pirates at the Orlando Stadium in Johannesburg.

All efforts made to solicit comments from the club bore no fruit as the phone of the club’s spokesperson, Mr Berry Ramunenyiwa, went unanswered.

Born in Soweto, Johannesburg, on 27 May 1986, Phala played for the now-defunct Silver Stars FC between 2006 and 2007. He moved to Kaizer Chiefs where he stayed for three seasons before migrating to Mamelodi Sundowns.

When his contract with Sundowns expired in 2010, Phala joined Platinum Stars. That was where he stayed for three solid years. His longest stay was at SuperSport United, where his contract stretched from 2013 until 2019. He scored 20 goals in the 141 games he played for Supersport. He got a call-up to the national team, Bafana Bafana, in 2012. 

Date:23 April 2020

By: Frank Mavhungu

Frank is a Human Resources Manager at the Department of Public Works in Limpopo. He is the longest serving correspondent of the Mirror, having joined us at the end of 1990.  He mainly writes sports reports and resides at Tsianda Village. In 2004, Frank won the National Castle League Award, an award for the best reporter in the SAB league in South Africa.

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