Times Of Swaziland: ‘BULL’ STAR ‘RIO’ AWOL

‘BULL’ STAR ‘RIO’ AWOL
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Mengameli Mabuza on 29/04/2024 14:15:00


MBABANE – Mbabane Highlanders midfielder Lindani ‘Rio’ Matsenjwa has
reportedly gone AWOL (absent without official leave) from the team.
The publication reported last week that the talented yet controversial
midfielder was set to depart the club at the end of the season after joining
Highlanders in the 2018/2019 season. The former Moneni Pirates player has since
experienced a tumultuous relationship with the club and the strained
relationship included public disputes with Managing Director Ally Kgomongwe in
the past. The former Moneni Pirates midfielder even took the club to the
Eswatini Football Association (EFA) Player’s Status Committee, alleging that
the club failed to pay his salary for three months in previous seasons.
Latest news coming from the Inkunzi Emnyama camp indicated that the midfielder
has gone AWOL and was noticeably absent during his team’s narrow 1-0 victory
against Denver Sundowns at KaLanga Technical Centre on Saturday afternoon.
Sources close to the club have stated that Matsenjwa was last seen in a match
against Young Buffaloes, where Mbabane giants suffered a 1-4 defeat at the same
venue a fortnight ago. “We currently don’t know the whereabouts of our
midfielder Lindani Matsenjwa, and this comes as no surprise, given his expected
departure from the team if he doesn’t change his attitude. During our match
against Young Buffaloes, he left for the dressing room before the game had even
finished, which left the technical team expressing their disappointment, as they
felt it was difficult to help someone who doesn’t want to be helped,” the
source said.
Meanwhile, reports indicated that new coach ‘Spanish’ has also not been
impressed with Matsenjwa’s performance since joining the club earlier this
month. The former Denver Sundowns gaffer has not selected the midfielder for any
of his three matches in charge. In a post-match interview recently, he revealed
that the team would be releasing players who fail to impress him in the
remaining league games. “We are not playing for anything, but having trials to
the players to see who will be in the team or not and we really need to go
scouting for players and we need to beef up our squad,” he said.The
Highlanders midfielder could not be drawn for comment at the time of compiling
this report yesterday afternoon.