Innocent Mayoyo defends Orlando Pirates decision to use injured Richard Ofori in MTN8 final

Before the MTN8 final against AmaZulu, which they would go on to win 1-0, Ofori had been out with a knee injury but declared himself fit enough to play.

The club's doctors agreed and he started the game, only to aggrevate the injury and completely rule him out of participating for Ghana at the World Cup.

The situation has split opinion with some believing he should have been rested because country comes before club, but others feel the exact opposite considering how much clubs pay players these days.

Mayoyo is firmly in the second camp and believes the decision of who plays belongs to the coaching staff not the players.

“At the end, we need to respect the decision of the coach because players don’t play for themselves and they don’t put themselves in the starting line-up,” Mayoyo told Sowetan.

“So, we can’t take it to him and we can’t answer if it was a good idea to play in that final or not, I think the decision still lies with the coach. At the end of the day, when we look at the cup final, it worked for them and I think that was the plan for the coach to win the match.

“As a player, you will always be looking at the next game more than anything else. As a player you can’t be saving yourselves for certain tournaments more than doing the task at hand,” he said.

“At the end, he is contracted to Pirates, that's where his bread and butter are. So, his priority should be Pirates.”