Micho blasts ‘faceless cowards’ after beating sexual harassment conviction

Former Orlando Pirates head coach Milutin ‘Micho’ Sredojevic has hit out at forces he believes were conspiring against him, after winning his appeal against a sexual harrassment conviction.

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In October 2021, Sredojevic was convicted of sexual harrassment charges brought against him by Sibabaoi Daio, alleged to have taken place during the 2020 Cosafa Cup at the Wolfson Stadium in Port Elizabeth.

Sredojevic was sentence to three years in prison, with five of those suspended, but appealed the decision, and on August 24, the appeal went in his favour at the Regional Magistrates Court in PE.

“This was in relation to a frivolous case that was brought to the magistrates court by one Sibabaio Diba, who was the face of a devious, unscrupulous and dirty agenda that was executed with an aim to cast aspersions on my name and spit on my public image, reputation and character,” said Sredojevic in a statement.

“It was a case whose intention was to remove my untainted footprints of having been a football servant to this beautiful continent of Africa, a place I call home.

“She led a charge to publcily assasinate my good name, backed by no substance. She became a messiah for those who had plotted against me, a bunch of faceless cowards who could not outsmart me on the field where I lead and win battles.”

Sredojevic, born in the Serbian part of the former Yugoslavia, coached Orlando Pirates in two spells, in 2006 and again between 2017 and 2019, before leaving abruptly in August of that year, with the Sunday World reporting that a case of indecent exposure had been opened against him at Norwood Police Station in Johannesburg.

The former Buccaneers mentor is currently in his second spell as head coach of the Ugandan national team, who he guided to the 2017 Africa Cup of Nations finals in his first stint.