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Miheso signed 'under barrel of gun'

Clifton Miheso, former Arrows player. Photo: Muzi Ntombela/ BackpagePix
Clifton Miheso, former Arrows player. Photo: Muzi Ntombela/ BackpagePix

Former Golden Arrows player Clifton Miheso has broken his silence and confirmed that he signed the letter of termination of his contract with the club with a gun to his head.

Speaking exclusively to Sowetan from his home country Kenya yesterday, the 23-year-old midfielder said he was "scared" for his life when he ended his stay with the KwaZulu-Natal-based side.

"I was called to the office on the 14th of January. I was told that the CEO Mr [Gordon] Masondo wanted to see me. He told me that they wanted to terminate my contract, so I had to call my agent [Emmanuel Godwin] because we had to negotiate on some stuff to terminate the contract," said Miheso yesterday.

"Unfortunately as we were doing the negotiations, some two guys came into the office," he claimed.

"They had guns and they forced me to sign my termination letter. I had to sign because that was the only way I could help myself [out of the situation]. I signed and later on I went to Durban police station next to Moses Mabhida Stadium to report a case [of intimidation]," he continued.

A post on the Arrows website had earlier dismissed the media reports over the incident, with the article accompanied by a written note by Miheso that the incident never took place and also apologising to the club .

However, Miheso alleges he wrote the letter under duress.

"Mato, the chairlady, asked me to write the letter and she told me everything to write. You know her name was in the media [and] she asked me to write the letter so she could clear her name," alleged Miheso.

He left one week after the incident and he said he doubted if he will ever play in South Africa again.

"I'm disappointed. I don't know if I can come back and play in South Africa again. I'm scared"

He confirmed that he was paid some money for the last six months.

SA Football Players' Union (Safpu) says they are not taking the matter lying down.

Safpu general secretary Thulaganyo Gaoshubelwe said the union had been trying to get the case number from Durban police station to follow up on the case.

"We are taking this matter forward. He was forced and he had nobody to run to since he is a foreigner," said Gaoshubelwe.

"The issue here is there is a criminal activity that took place. These people paid him for two months [out of the six remaining] and where is he going to get his signing-on-fee? Why force someone to go with a gun? Players have rights."

When contacted, Arrows boss Mato Madlala told Sowetan: "I'm busy. I'm not dealing with that story."

Sowetan had earlier contacted the club's CEO Gordon Masondo who said " continue [talking] with him".

"We as the club have nothing to say."

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