Sukazi fuming at Safa over Aubaas Pirates error

TS Galaxy president Tim Sukazi has rubbished claims that one of his star players Bathusi Aubaas has joined DStv Premiership rival Orlando Pirates.

The confusion escalated further on Saturday when Aubaas who was making his Bafana Bafana debut against Morocco was listed on the teamsheet as a Pirates player.

The mistake by SAFA didn’t go down well with Sukazi who cleared the air about the player’s future on Monday during an interview with Thabiso Mosia on Radio 2000.

“We haven’t been approached on Aubaas and there is nothing and of course if anyone comes we will always engage,” a fuming Sukazi said after the error by SAFA.

“It was a complete disgrace, an embarrassment to the association itself, the two clubs and to CAF as well because they were fed poison with that teamsheet, with Aubaas identified as a player of another club. I was really flabbergasted, dismayed and deeply disappointed.

“There is no formal apology. The team manager did reach out because he saw my social media rant. He rendered his apology, apparently he had an old teamsheet template and he replaced a name with Aubaas but he didn’t change the club. The damage was done and it’s a clear undermining to both Pirates and TS Galaxy.

“What is more in this case, there have been these rumours linking Aubaas with Pirates and it’s a blatant lie and I dismiss them as absolute nonsense. Imagine the commotion and uncertainty that it creates at both camps. There’s an expectation now from Orlando Pirates fans to deliver Aubaas, a player that they have not been negotiating for with TS Galaxy.”

Despite denials of Aubaas’ reported move to the Buccaneers, Sukazi did mention that they will listen to offers for the highly-talented midfielder.

“Our duty is to produce players that can play at international level and represent the country number one,” he said.

“And number two, produce players that can go to big teams locally and make a big contribution because they play in CAF and international competitions. When an interest arrives, I’ve said before that our club model requires us to dispose of our best assets and reinvest in the club.

“There’s no set price for a player. Instead, there are different prices for suitors or buyers. If for example a Sundowns, Kaizer Chiefs or SuperSport comes then the price might not be the same. Or a Barcelona or PSG comes, surely you can’t tell me that if you were to sell a player let’s say for R5 million locally, and then Barcelona comes, you would (still) transfer him for the same amount. It depends on the suitor and what is the market in which they operate in and what their buying power is.”

Aubaas said he will leave his future in the hands of his handlers.

“Right now, I will leave it to my agent and to the chairman at TS Galaxy because now people have been calling left right and centre. For now I haven’t signed with any team,” the 28-year-old concluded.