Chiefs using Khune for commercial purposes
Kaizer Chiefs no longer need Itumeleng Khune on the pitch and are only using his celebrity status to make money.
Itumeleng Khune has been selected by the South African under 23 squad coach, Owen Da Gama as one of the overaged players to participate in the 2016 Rio Olympics in Brazil.
What defeats any rational and reasonable thinking is that their tournament opener is on 4 August but Kaizer Chiefs say he must play their Carling Black Label Cup match with Orlando Pirates on 30 July first then join the rest of the squad the following day.
Khune has a celebrity status, I'd call him the David Beckham of South African football. He used to date Minnie Dlamini and he is currently dating another celebrity in the shape of Sbahle Mpisane. That makes him a charismatic figure that is envied and idolised by many South Africans.
He has a lot of fans and sponsors and it comes as no shock to see him leading the voters' standings every year in the Carling Black Label Cup.
If Chiefs make an announcement that Khune is no longer part of the competition because of national duty the amount of SMS messages from voters will dwindle and the sponsors won't be impressed. Chiefs are cashing in on his fame.
We all know that Khune is an injury-prone player and he might not even kick a ball in both the Olympics and the Carling Black Label Cup. Yesterday he limped off after just 10 minutes in the SA Under 23 friendly against Bidvest Wits but the extent of his injury was played down because they want people to keep voting for him.
I won't be surprised if Chiefs make an announcement on the final day of voting that Khune is unfit to play in the match against Pirates.
Last season they were fine with not renewing his contract because they already had Brilliant Khuzwayo and Reyard Pieterse who were effective between the sticks but he is a more powerful brand than both of them and that's the only reason why they kept him.
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(File photo)