Leemisa Thuseho
LIKUENA legend Lehlohonolo Seema, who is also the head coach of ABSA Premiership side Bloemfontein Celtic, says he will continue focusing on soccer and avoid being distracted by off the field challenges that the club is currently going through.
The club has reportedly been going through some financial challenges which resulted in the technical team getting only a portion of their salaries in recent months.
So bad is the situation at the club that Seema was reportedly paid only M1 000 for April 2020 although the claims were later dismissed as falsehoods by the club and the coach himself.
Seema told the Lesotho Times on Monday that while the club has indeed been going through some financial challenges which have recently been compounded by the ongoing Coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic.
He also confirmed that only the players have been full salaries since May while the technical team’s salaries were slashed.
“Even for May, the technical team didn’t get their full salaries, only the players did,” Seema said.
“However, the allegations that I got R1 000 is falsehoods. I never said that. It is unfortunate… I do not want to see the team’s name being tarnished.”
Although he was taken aback when a story was published in the South African media attributing the claims to him, he says he has since moved on.
“I will not be distracted by such things, at the end of the day life must go on.”
There have also been claims that the club is on the verge of being sold, a development that would see it moving to a new home from Bloemfontein. However, the team has denied the claims.
Similarly, Seema also denied the claims but also added that he was not concerned about the rumours and would focus on his job of coaching the team.
“The players and the technical team have been through this before and they now know how to deal with such rumours. We will only concentrate on what the management says instead of rumours.
“The management is keeping us in the loop about the developments and we are praying that the team remains here because if it were to move, then it would break the hearts of many fans.”
He also denied claims linking him with Botswana side, Township Rollers. He said even if he were to leave Bloemfontein Celtic, it would be a mutual decision as opposed to the rumoured acrimonious separation.
“I am still learning the job and if ever I leave the team, then we would have mutually agreed to go separate ways.”
During the lockdowns, Seema has been giving his players individual training programmes pending a decision by the government regarding the resumption of the league. Celtic is ninth with 28 points with seven games to go.
Last year the team finished the season in eighth place and Seema is targeting improving that.
“My target is to finish between fourth and seventh and that means we must win as many games as possible in the remaining games. We are also in the semifinals of the Nedbank Cup and that means we must win just two games to win the tournament,” Seema said.
