Gomora United chairman Joe Seanego is convinced that 43-year-old former Orlando Pirates defender Rooi Mahamutsa is still “very young” to retire, expecting him to play a pivotal role for the club in their maiden season in the Motsepe Foundation Championship (MFC).
Mahamutsa played a crucial role in Gomora’s promotion to the MFC as they won the ABC Motsepe League national play-offs in Tshwane a few weeks ago.
Seanego has since made it clear that the erstwhile Bucs centre-back will be part of the playing squad in their first season in the MFC. “Winning the national playoffs is not an easy task, so I see no need to release the players who helped us to achieve that,” Seanego told Sowetan.
“You talk about Mahamutsa… the man didn’t deserve to play in the ABC Motsepe League in the first place because he’s still a quality player. So, it was more like he was giving back to the community. At 43, the man is still going very strong, and to me he’s very young. He’s living a healthy lifestyle and he’s taking good care of himself, so he will continue to be part of the team in the NFD [now known as MFC]. He’s still going very strong.”
On the other hand, the Gomora owner, who’s in the electrical engineering business, didn’t hide that they were in need of a sponsor, admitting the burden of sustaining a team from his own pocket was too much. Seanego also thanked the Alexandra Taxi Association for supporting them financially during difficult times. “You will never sustain a football club with your own businesses…it’s difficult,” he said.
“We need people who are going to help us. We’ve been surviving through asking help out there. A lot of people have helped the team with money in the past, so we continue to urge people to help us. We are definitely looking for sponsors. In the ABC Motsepe League, sometimes our players were getting half salaries. The Alexandra Taxi Association has helped us a lot in difficult times and we will forever be grateful to them.”
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