Cape Town City midfielder Mpho ‘Bibo’ Makola says his side is struggling because of his absence.

The 33-year-old player has been handed a six-month ban by the Premier Soccer League (PSL) for shoving referee Abongile Tom during a Telkom Knockout match against Kaizer Chiefs in October.

Makola, who was on the books of Orlando Pirates between 2012 and 2019, admitted that he is not proud of what he did and he regrets his actions.
“That was wrong of me and I regret it. That’s something that I wouldn’t want kids to see because obviously, I am a role model and I know a lot of kids were watching and it was not a good image,” Makola told FarPost.

“I did apologies to the ref (Abongile Tom), I called him and I said, ‘listen I know you probably have kids and when they see something like that it’s gonna look bad’ so my humble apologies for doing that and it will never happen again.

“I mean I have never done something like that since I have played football, nonetheless even playing here (amateur football) I have never done something like that. It was out of character and I deeply regret it."

The Citizens have endured a poor first round in the PSL and they are currently winless in their last five matches in the competition.

“My team is even suffering because I am not playing but yeah, I think it was just a lesson learned and it’s something that will never happen again,” he said.

Makola is currently waiting for a decision from the South African Football Association (Safa) appeals board which is due in the next few days.