Chippa United have 'high possibility' of losing Stanley Nwabali

Chippa United have 'high possibility' of losing Stanley Nwabali

Chippa United co-coach Thabo September has acknowledged the likelihood of the club potentially losing goalkeeper Stanley Nwabali at the end of the season.

The Nigeria stop-stopper was among the stand-out players at the Africa Cup of Nations in January, with The Super Eagles having stumbled at the last hurdle against hosts Cote d’Ivoire following an impressive run in the tournament. 

Nwabali has subsequently been linked with a possible move and September, speaking on Metro FM’s Sports Night Amplified with host Andile Ncube, said they can’t rule it out.

"It's not the right word to use, but of course I think there's a high possibility of losing him. I don't think it's a fear [to lose him], that's what the club is about," said September.

"It's about giving players a platform and opportunity – be it a player or coaches that have gone through this club, so it's the circle of it."

Nwabali has kept 11 clean sheets for Chippa in 25 games across all competitions, and September argues this has been an immense contribution in The Chilli Boys’ quest to try and finish in the top eight this season. 

"He's been huge for us. With the clean sheets that we've kept, I think you saw some of the games – especially if you look at the SuperSport [United] game, the save he makes in the second half," he noted.

"So, for us to have gotten that 2-0 there was a huge contribution from him."

September was then asked for further clarity on allegations made by co-coach Kwanele Kopo towards his Orlando Pirates counterpart Jose Riveiro at the weekend. 

The Chippa mentor accused the Spaniard of using “abusive language” during their Nedbank Cup semi-final in Gqeberha, suggesting they were along racial lines. 

But September says the words used were “insulting, but not racial.”

"It was not a racial comment, it was just someone insulting. But it's done now, maybe someone wrote something wrong," said the former Matsatsantsa captain.

"It was not a racial comment. Someone insulted us and that was that... I'm here for football and I would love to focus on that."

READ: Jose Riveiro defends against Kwanele Kopo's 'abusive' allegations