With all football activity currently suspended in the country due to the COVID-19 pandemic, contract talks have taken a back seat as the football fraternity waits to see what an uncertain future holds. One contract in particular that is up for discussion is that of Jele. Having entered into the final six months of his contract at Pirates, there is an added one-year option set in place on the centre-back’s existing deal, although Bucs are yet to confirm when they will take up the option.
Jele has been a mainstay for a resurgent Pirates team this season, making 20 league appearances while scoring a solitary goal for Josef Zinnbauer’s side.
The veteran’s representative, Jazzman Mahlakgane, a respected figure on the local football scene, told the Siya crew that it would not make sense to discuss Jele’s contract situation considering that SAFA have not given a directive on football in the club at the end of the season.
“There’s obviously three or four players who are in limbo and whose contracts had option dates by which they had to be extended for next season. But as clubs we can only exercise those options based on events on the field of play,” Mahlakgane told the Siya crew earlier this month.
“If I had to exercise an option on a player, but I haven’t seen enough and had hoped I would see the player in the last six games, how do I make a judgement call? We haven’t finished the season… I might finish third or I might finish sixth – can the difference between finishing third and sixth be the exact amount of money that it will cost me to renew certain contracts? If we make the top four, it would be easier, and if we don’t, I might have to walk away,” he added.
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