Nhleko embroiled in deal gone wrong

Maluleke contacted KickOff.com after he was allegedly sent from pillar to post for three months by Nhleko, who has retired and now works as an agent.

"I met Nkosinathi through [former Black Leopards striker] Dingaan Metsi and Nkosinathi told me he could take me to Dubai. Dingaan told me a Visa will cost R6,000 and I told him I could make a plan so Nkosinathi could make travel arrangements," the former Black Leopards goalkeeper says.

"I deposited the money and later on he told me the Visa was done, but when it was time for me to go, Nkosinathi told us the people in Dubai had found another goalkeeper, so the agreement was that he was going to refund me. It is simple; if he did the Visa, why is it so difficult to send the proof?

"He told us many stories; one was that he was waiting for his friend to give him money so he can refund me and the other was that he was waiting for a cheque to clear at the bank. So his story keeps changing and it has been three months."

However, Nhleko tells KickOff.com that "he just provides the opportunity" for players to go overseas; he does not pay their way.

"Listen bhuti wam, one of my former teammates is based in Dubai now and he was looking for a goalkeeper. I found Thabang and we started making travel arrangements, but the player was having financial problems," Nhleko says. "I said I would help him with some money so we went 50/50 [R12,000 in total for Visa and aeroplane tickets].

"Unfortunately, they phoned me to say they found another goalkeeper but we had already made the travel arrangements. They told me they were not going to reimburse me, so I broke the news to the boy. Thabang called me and asked if I could help him with something else, that's when I told him about my connection in Mozambique.

"I spoke to my contact, but [Maluleke] came back to me saying he was getting an offer at Dynamos so he asked for my assistance in terms of the negotiations and contract. He then took the offer.

"I said to him since he has been struggling financially, I was going to reimburse him, but I was not supposed to because I also lost money in this whole thing. I once took Mokete Tsotetsi to Singapore and he paid for everything. I just provide the opportunity."

KickOff.com returned to Maluleke for comment, who says: "He is lying. He just SMSed me saying people from Kick Off called him and I can take whatever steps I want to take [presumably to recover the money]."