Mamelodi Sundowns terminate striker Tokelo Rantie’s contract

Mamelodi Sundowns have announced the release of former Bafana Bafana striker Tokelo Rantie.

The club cited ill-discipline with Rantie reportedly going AWOL from Chloorkop late last year.

Rantie released

In an official statement the club expressed disappointment that Rantie had failed to repay the faith shown in him by head coach Pitso Mosimane.

The coach believed that the proven goalscoring quality of Rantie was worth the risk if signing someone with a history of ill-discipline.

“Mamelodi Sundowns has terminated its contract with striker, Tokelo Rantie, with immediate effect,” a statement on Sundowns website read.

“The former Bafana Bafana international and Bournemouth striker had gone AWOL for a month and following an internal disciplinary process, the Club terminated his contract.

“Rantie was signed by the Brazilians after spending a lengthy period of over two and half months on trial at Chloorkop as he was given a chance to regain his fitness and showcase the talent he possesses.

“Despite the faith shown in him by Head Coach Pitso Mosimane and his Technical team, Rantie’s discipline let him down and he failed to grab the opportunity granted to him, especially since the Brazilians were needing a goal-poacher of his calibre, considering that many of the strikers in the squad had been injured at some time or another.”

Sundowns have a zero-tolerance approach to ill-discipline, feeling that as the league’s most successful team they have an obligation to raise the bar when it comes to player conduct.

Downs Legal Executive Yogesh Singh confirmed the termination and said: “The standard at Sundowns is high for a professional footballer and there is a zero-tolerance for ill-discipline. Of course, players are human, and we will first go through counselling to correct a player’s behaviour, but there is a line, and when that is crossed we do not compromise the dressing-room for any individual player.”

During the past few seasons, the Premiership champions have cracked the whip on ill-disciplined players releasing several players including Musi Mashaba and Siyabonga Zulu.

The 29-year-old Rantie joined Sundowns in September as a free agent but failed to make any official starts for the Brazilians.

Rantie was released by Cape Town City in December last year after he failed to knuckle down in training due to off-field distractions.He played 40 matches for Bafana Bafana scoring 13 goals and was for some time arguably the best South African forward before he fell out with former coach Shakes Mashaba and then Stuart Baxter.