Former Orlando Pirates coach Milutin "Micho" Sredojevic allegedly evaded the police by asking his agent Ivica Stankovic to whisk him off to the airport on Saturday night.

Micho's escape from the law, which left egg on the faces of the police and portrayed SA as a banana republic, betrayed the trust police had in Pirates management, who had initially promised to hand him over a day before he fled the country. 

Sunday World understands that discussions where under way among the police about whether to charge Stankovic with defeating the ends of justice for transporting Micho, who is facing charges of indecent exposure, to the airport.

Initially, discussions were whether Pirates director Dominic Ntsele should be charged with defeating the ends of justice or aiding and abetting, a serious crime which carries a prison sentence. But police were allegedly satisfied with Ntsele's statement submitted on Monday and were casting their eyes on Stankovic.

Speaking to Sunday World, a top cop who did not want to be named as he is not allowed to speak to the media, said police communicated with Ntsele to hand over the Serbian coach to them in Braamfontein, Joburg on Sunday morning.

"But we were surprised when we learnt that Micho was at the airport to board a 7.10pm plane to Dubai on Saturday night. When the police rushed there, he had already boarded the plane leaving for Dubai," said the cop.

The cop said that at first they felt betrayed by Ntsele because they had had an agreement with him to hand Micho over to them. "Ntsele said that it would be too damaging to the reputation of the team if Micho was to be arrested at training and made arrangements to hand him over instead. We now know that Ntsele didn't take Micho to the airport, it was his agent," said the cop.

Ntsele confirmed that he had promised to hand the Serbian-born coach over to police but was shocked when Stankovic told him that Micho was at the airport on his way to Dubai.

"When we learnt that there was a case opened against him, I personally made a commitment to hand him over on Sunday morning. On Friday, Micho resigned as the club coach and said he was depressed because his mother was sick. So I phoned the police and told them that Micho was no longer in our employ and told them they could do what they want to do with him. But I told them that he had given me an assurance that he would be available for a Sunday meeting," he said.

Ntsele said he communicated with Micho on Saturday morning.

"Later in the day I sent him several WhatsApp messages and when he failed to respond, I contacted Ivica, who told me that he dropped him off at the airport. I immediately phoned the police and told them that Micho was at the airport and even gave them a flight number but when they arrived there he was gone already. So those who wanted me charged were just being mischievous," he said.

Sunday World has seen WhatsApp messages sent to Micho by Ntsele asking him not to leave the country.

"Please don't do this. The SAPS are going to arrest you before the plane leaves. You are destroying your life," reads the message.

We have also seen messages between Ntsele and Stankovic which show that they spoke about the Micho matter on Friday after his resignation.

Stankovic confirmed that he dropped Micho off at the airport but claimed he didn't know that he was a wanted man.

"Why do you call me on Saturday when I'm sleeping? You are disrespectful. Yes, I dropped him [off at the airport] but who said I knew that he was wanted by the police?" he said before hanging up.

Police spokesperson Kay Makhubele did not respond to pointed questions and instead rehashed the same response he gave to Sunday World last week.

Home affairs spokesperson Thabo Mokgola said nothing was reported to them and as such, Micho had a smooth passage when he arrived at immigration.