Tito’s family wanted him to quit football over relentless cyberbullying

Maswanganyi, now based in Bahrain playing for top-flight side Al Khaldiya, revealed during an exclusive interview with the South African Football Journalists Association (SAFJA) last night that his family couldn’t stand the social media insults anymore.

Masangwanyi has been settling at Al-Khaldiya, where he’s played four matches in the Asian Champions League Two division, and since leaving Pirates towards the end of August, he says his focus was on finding peace, something he didn’t have here locally. 

He also reveals how the move came about, and the role one of the club’s leaders, Mpumi Khoza played...

"I've always asked the chairman to leave the club because I felt like it was the right moment while I was feeling down. I thought that a new move would help me discover my confidence again, and I felt that Bahrain offered me the best opportunity."

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When footballers or personalities complain about cyberbullying, they are quick to be dismissed as not being able to deal with the pressure of being at the top, but Maswanganyi makes a good point about how this negativity can make you a stronger person... 

"I always tell my teammates who might be going through something similar that they need to be patient with themselves, and to not think about all the negativity on social media because most of the time those people who type bad things are the same people who want to take pictures with you when they meet you. This is normal."

Maswanganyi says the thought of leaving Pirates wasn’t something new and it’s something that he had long been discussing with Mpumi Khoza, and when the time came to leave the club, it wasn’t a difficult decision. 

Last week, he was back at the Orlando Amstel Arena to watch his former team, something he really enjoyed...