Mpheni Defenders owner, Sydwell Phuravhathu.
By: Refilwe Sebola
Mpheni Defenders owner Sydwell Phuravhathu has denied allegations that his team is bribing referees in attempt to win the league.
Speaking after their abandoned game against Winnerspark last Saturday Phuravhathu said that the rumours were unfounded. “We don’t know where the rumours are coming from and we don’t even know where these referees are coming from,” he said.
The successful team owner who is also an attorney by profession has been accused by some social media users and football fans of bribing referees in some of their league games. His team has been winning their stream for the past three seasons and almost got promoted to the Nation First Division league last season. However, they failed in the playoffs. Phuravhathu used their abandoned Game against Winnerspark to justify his club’s innocence. He pointed to his team’s dominance against Winnerspark and their two penalties as prove his club didn’t need help of referee to win games.
They have been using a new team this season after losing most of their last season players but they still managed ascend to top of the league log. Allegations of bribing referees are common in the ABC Motsepe League.