Jomo fears 'attack' from Chiefs fans

Jomo Cosmos have officially withdrawn a plan to challenge the signing of their former striker Matthew Rusike by Kaizer Chiefs.

The Zimbabwe-born Under-23 star crossed over to Naturena during the week having signed for the Anakhosi, but Cosmos protested this development and threatened to challenge a decision by PSL’s dispute resolution chamber.

A statement from Cosmos owner and coach, Jomo Sono maintained that the club will no longer pursue the case following a thorough reevaluation of the impasse.

He said: “My kids deliberated extensively on the matter and made me realise that I was glorifying Matthew Rusike rather unnecessarily, that I must just let him go.

“We signed Rusike when he had no team, and as a matter of fact, he wasn’t even starting most of our games last season. However, we feel there’s no point taking the matter any further.

“This situation takes me back to the case of Fortune Koloba during which I almost lost my life. So my kids said I must let Rusike go and he must enjoy his stay at Chiefs.

“Sometimes it’s not just about the principal. Sometimes you must just let the principal go. Rusike’s situation won’t put us down at Cosmos, and we’ll continue with our tradition of discovering and nurturing players to stardom.

“Pursuing this case further may have negative ramifications as we don’t want Chiefs supporters attacking us in the streets thinking we don’t want to release Rusike to them.

“Which is why we have decided to withdraw the appeal with immediate effect, and use this opportunity to wish Rusike the very best of his stay at Chiefs.

Sono, who has transformed quite a number of raw talent to international standard, reflected on how some of his protégés had been snapped up by bigger teams.

“In the past, Chiefs took my players like Reneilwe Letsholonyane and Valery Nahayo without much hassle.

“It’s not Chiefs’ fault that things are like that. We’ve lost better players like Morgan Gould and Anthony Laffor in the past, but that will not discourage us in our continued quest to unearth raw talent,” he posited.

Matthew Rusike, who joined Ezenkosi from AmaTuks last year, was cleared to play for Chiefs by the PSL’s dispute resolution chamber on Tuesday, following a contractual dispute with Jomo Cosmos.

The Naturena club had been keen to bring the Zimbabwean international on board for some time, but a dispute between the player and his former club had held up the deal.

Cosmos had exercised an option on his contract to sign him for two more years, while Rusike, who has a South African mother, believed he was a free agent.

The matter then went to the PSL’s dispute resolution chamber, which later resolved the dispute.

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