This followed a robbery at the club’s Chloorkop base, during which soccer boots, jerseys, tracksuits, socks and even balls were stolen. Several players’ personal items were also reported stolen.
According to a source, the jerseys did not have the players' names and only had the numbers. The robbery took place in the early hours of Saturday morning.
Chloorkop is the training and administrative offices for Sundowns. The facility boasts several training pitches, media rooms, a player lounge as well as various gym and player rehab centres.
Located on the outskirts of Midrand, the grounds have been used by various international teams to prepare for locally hosted matches, most recently by Ghana in preparations for the Africa Cup of Nations.
The team members was shocked when they returned to the clubhouse at the weekend; the kit manager is now under pressure to find new training gear.
The source could not confirm how much the stolen kit costs but simply said “it’s a huge setback” for the club.
Sundowns played over the weekend against Golden Arrows, in which they won by a goal to nil.
People weighed in on the robbery on social media, some making fun of the situation.
Setlaboswana said: “This is dirty tactics aimed at destabilising our team.”
Etolla said. “I don’t think Sundowns supporters can do this...”
Mashia 1950 said: “You must be reminded that Sundowns has the most beautiful kit ever, so everyone wants to get their hands on it.”
Nykes Mashishi said: “Why mara? People are so jealous of our team.”
Thabana Khosi said: “At Chloorkop you can’t get in unless you have Sundowns membership card. So people who always go there to watch training know this. It can’t be anyone other than people who associate with the team.”
Pretoria News