Durban - Maritzburg United Chairman Farook Kadodia has conceded that his club have to sell star players if they are to remain alive and running. The Team of Choice have had to part ways with a number of talented players in recent times including Richard Ofori, Bongokuhle Hlongwane and Bandile Shandu.
Shandu and Ofori have since gone on to become important players for Orlando Pirates while Hlongwane now plays in the United States for Minnesota United.
“Over the years Maritzburg United have sold players to keep us alive in the league. If we did not sell players, financially, we would be long out of this league. This particular year, we don’t have players that we’ve identified to sell. You can understand that agents put pressure on clubs and they don’t realize that the struggles are real,” Kadodia told the media.
Maritzburg’s decision to recently part ways with veteran coach Ernst Middendorp came as somewhat of a surprise. The German did relatively well to keep the club in the top-flight despite being faced with regular structural changes due to the sales of top players. However, Kadodia insisted recently that the change had to be made as he did not want the club to continuously fight relegation.
John Maduka who led Royal AM to an impressive third place finish in the league last season has since been appointed as the Team of Choice’s new coach.
Kadodia also added that times have been especially tough for his club as it does not have a main sponsor. The Pietermaritzburg based club have been donning the logo of humanitarian organization Gift of the Givers since last season but this partnership does involve a sponsorship.
“For the last eight years we have been working with the same fixed income. We don’t have a main sponsor and many team’s don’t, We have to control what we can with our budget,” said Kadodia.
A number of clubs released several players recently with Maritzburg being no exception. Among the players that the Team of Choice recently released were Nazeer Allie and Clayton Daniels. Despite their advanced ages, the duo were among the club’s top performers last season, playing a crucial role in helping the team avoid the drop.
Kadodia and Maduka face a difficult challenge to find suitable replacements for the veteran duo.