Christmas was not a merry occasion for Siyethemba Sithebe, as Richards Bay terminated his contract.

The club suspended the player for allegedly disrespecting coaches in the dressing room following a loss to SuperSport United.

Although Sithebe did not play in the match, he entered the dressing room afterward and reportedly engaged in a heated exchange with the coaching staff. This led to his suspension and ultimately, the termination of his contract.

Richards Bay had initiated disciplinary proceedings against Sithebe, but he did not attend the hearing upon the advice of his agent Musa Sithebe.

Club chairman Sifiso Biyela explained to Sportswire: “We are like a Stellenbosch team and we say, we need certain players to help the young players to grow. 

“That’s why we signed Sithebe, Thabiso Kutumela because we want them to play this role of seniority. Now, if you don’t behave well, because this thing it has nothing to do with football on the pitch. 

“We lost painful against SuperSport having dominated the game. But when we are done talking and you raise your hands and you insult coaches in the dressing room, it means in the next game you have to play by force and we cannot co-exist like that. 

“As a senior player what you should do, ‘Guys, you played well and unfortunately that we missed the penalty’, encourage the boys to show you are a senior player. 

“We have players like Kutumela who have not played for quite a number of games but the attitude is still the same. The way they pushed at training, it is still the same.  

“We explained their roles even before we signed them during the off-season and what we liked them to do at this club. So, we cannot accept when we are in this situation (in the relegation zone) and allow coaches not to have a grip of the club because that will mean another player will do that. 

“We didn’t just terminate the contract; he was called for the DC and we have a statement where he agreed that he made a mistake and he needed to appear to the DC. He agreed because we had to hire lawyers. After all, we were doing this externally. 

“So, as it is now, I don’t even know who was our lawyer representing the club. On the date of the DC, he told us that he has been advised by his uncle and his agent (Musa Sithebe) not to appear in front of the DC. 

“We had all the statements that confirm what happened. Unfortunately, we have 28 players and we cannot allow such a situation for a player to disrespect coaches.”  

Biyela, who was voted in as an Exco member of the PSL for the next four years, revealed that Sithebe’s actions have left him bitterly disappointed. 

“We employed him to perform a certain role,” he said. 

“I found myself at the crossroad to either lose more players by losing the entire changing room or to lose one player, so we decided to terminate the contract of Sithebe.  

“And don’t forget that this player is a role model to younger players.”  

Sithebe joined Richards Bay at the start of the current season after being released by Kaizer Chiefs. In his brief tenure with the Natal Rich Boys, he leaves the club having made eight appearances across all competitions.