Akpeyi undeterred by Swallows salary crisis

Admitting he didn’t see Moroka Swallows’ financial crisis coming, goalkeeper Daniel Akpeyi has vowed the recent embarrassing developments at the Birds camp will not make him lose passion for football.

Swallows failed to honour two league fixtures against Mamelodi Sundowns and Golden Arrows in December after players downed tools due to nonpayment of salaries. The league subsequently gave both Sundowns and Arrows walkovers, further slapping the Birds with a R1m fine, with R600,000 of that suspended. 

“It’s strange that this is happening. Maybe it’s strange to me because I never saw it coming. Now that it is here, the only thing I can do is to try as much as possible to make sure that it doesn’t pull me back because it can be demotivating,” Akpeyi told the media on the sidelines of the PSL Player Transition second season launch at Gordon Institute of Business Science in Sandton yesterday.

“I want to be on the field and play. It’s unfortunate that I have to be in a situation where I am fighting for money and other things instead of playing competitive football.”

Swallows chairman David Mogashoa has vowed to charge the players for failing to honour the two fixtures.

Akpeyi revealed the matter was being resolved internally, suggesting he was not part of the players the club charged for “illegal strike”. 

“They are beginning to resolve that issue now. I know that there’s a disciplinary hearing with some of the players. From the information that I’ve gathered so far, they are trying to resolve it and they are trying to get back into the mini preseason before the league resumes,” Akpeyi said.

Akpeyi is one of more than 30 players from all 16 Premiership clubs who have enrolled in the second installation of the Player Transition programme that started yesterday. It comprises four core modules in business fundamentals, information technology, financial management and leadership.

“This is a great opportunity for us as players to get qualifications that will help us when we retire from football. We thank the PSL for coming up with this initiative,” Akpeyi said.