Afriyie faces Rollers' wrath
Kabelo Boranabi | Friday February 21, 2020 12:51
Afriyie stormed out of the technical bench midway through the second half when he realised that he would be an unused substitute in the team’s 1-0 win over Prisons XI last Sunday.
The Ghanaian striker, cut a frustrated figure on the bench as the team’s recruit, Bame Morwalela was given a run ahead of him. In an animated manner, Afriyie directed words to the team’s coach Frank Nuttall before he bolted to the dressing room barefooted in the dying minutes of the game. Speaking to Mmegi Sport on Wednesday, Rollers’ public relations officer, Bafana Pheto was coy in his response. He said the club awaits a technical team’s report before any action can be taken. He however admitted that the player could be reprimanded if found guilty.
“There are structures at Rollers and procedures that players have to follow. If a player handles himself in an undesirable manner, the head of the technical, team that is the coach, reports such a matter to the welfare manager. The team manager will then take the matter to the executive committee and suggest how we can discipline the player,” Pheto said.
“If a player is found guilty and established to have tarnished the image of the club then action would be taken against such player. But at the moment we are yet to receive any report on the matter, so I cannot comment further. I would have to say that Afriyie is here with us and he has been training since the start of the week.” Contacted for comment, Rollers’ welfare manager, Motshegetsi Mafa said the club has not met over the matter. “We are having a very busy schedule since the weekend. We played midweek and we are travelling to Francistown for the FA Cup. So we had not had time to deal with the matter, so I would not comment on anything at the moment. Let us just wait for next week,” Mafa said. The 25-year-old arrived at Popa in January on a two and half year deal with much fanfare after an impressive six goals in 11 games tally in the Kenyan elite league.
He has however only managed to play for only 23 minutes since his arrival. He has been an unused substitute on three occasions including against Prisons. However, in Rollers’ 4-1 win on Wednesday he was nowhere to be seen around the travelling squad. “I just focus on the performance on the pitch, I think that is the purpose of the (post match) interview we are doing. So I will just focus and comment on the 18 that is here,” Nuttall said on Wednesday evening.
According to reports, Afriyie is nearing the exit door, as Popa remain sharp on indiscipline. “It will depend on how he handles himself in the next few days but he looks certain to be on his way out.
The club does not tolerate such kind of behaviour. He will be very lucky not to have his contract terminated, it is only a matter of time that a decision is taken,” a source told Mmegi Sport.