Sharks take aim at Mapoe
4 Nov 2010
The Sharks plan to take legal action against Lionel Mapoe for his defection to the Lions.
The Mapoe tug-of-war was initially a battle between the Cheetahs and Sharks, with the latter expected to win, but it emerged this week that Mapoe has signed with the Lions and will play for them in the 2011 Super Rugby competition.
Mapoe has defected to the Lions despite the Sharks paying for his injury rehabilitation as well as his accommodation in Durban. Sharks boss Brian van Zyl questioned Mapoe’s integrity and ethics, telling The Times that the Durban union plans to sue the player for damages.
‘We have spent months rehabilitating him here in Durban, paying him substantially more than he was being [paid] by Free State and ensuring that he would be fit and well by the time he was able to play for us when we finally had a clearance certificate,’ Van Zyl said.
‘Last week I heard rumours that Lionel was talking to another union. We sent him home to Queenstown at the weekend to see his partner and their baby, but it later emerged he’d met with Lions shareholders Robert Gumede and Ivor Ichikowitz at his flat in Durban.
‘We are going to sue Lionel for his wages, costs and damages. I don’t know who will pay, whether it will be the Lions, the shareholders or the player, but someone is going to have to pay up.
‘John [Plumtree - Sharks coach] is very upset after all the hard work we put in. Lionel has used us and there is a lot of animosity towards him.’
The Lions claim that Mapoe never had a contract with the Sharks. They secured his services by negotiating with the Cheetahs, and feel there are no grounds to take the matter to court.
155 Comments
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6 Nov 2010, 15:37 pm
@stormersboy(stormersboy) :
boy, ure out of line here, u are one of those that need to get with the fact that rugby is prof sport now. sharks do not deserve this treatment.
6 Nov 2010, 15:53 pm
@BD(BD) :
dont be a dig head here……costs was incurred by him ito salary accom and rehab, if u were ceo of a rugby union u would also demand costs
7 Nov 2010, 13:10 pm
“LIONEL (Mapoe) has used us and there is a lot of animosity towards him,” Sharks chief executive Brian van Zyl wailed into his banana-flavoured porridge this week. Van Zyl was upset because the player whose services they tried to secure while he was still under contract with the Cheetahs, dared take up a contract with the Lions. Mapoe can perhaps be accused of acting in bad faith but in this case, the Sharks can hardly call the kettle black. – Times Live
Can’t say I disagree at all!
7 Nov 2010, 14:49 pm
@benno_on_tow(benno_on_tow) :
When it comes to ethics maybe you should look at the ethics of the Lions new backer. He said he was staying out of rugby but it appears he had a hand in the Mapoe negotiations.
Perhaps read Mail and Guardian Nov 5 to 11
BTW – No-one has said the Sharks were squeaky clean here. I certainly never did.
Whatever wrongs they may have done does not convey rights to Mapoe to hold onto everything.
8 Nov 2010, 11:38 am
@Biscuit(Biscuit) :
This argument is boring now bud
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