Mokwena and Ramovic avoid each other at Nedbank Cup last 16 ...

Using the naked eye, it appears that the relationship between the two coaches has broken down beyond repair..

SPORT

In what would have been an awkward moment between TS Galaxy coach Sead Ramovic and his Mamelodi Sundowns counterpart Rulani Mokwena, whether by design or coincidence, the two avoided sharing the same space at a Nedbank Cup event in Parktown, Johannesburg, on Thursday.

It would have been the first time that Ramovic and Mokwena had met publicly face to face, and perhaps even shaken hands, since their war of words erupted a few weeks ago.

READ: EXPLAINER | Mokwena and Ramovic's beef: When and how it started

Ramovic and Mokwena, Orlando Pirates coach Jose Riveiro and SuperSport United assistant coach Andre Arendse were the four coaches scheduled to brief the media ahead of the start of the last 16 round of the Nedbank Cup.

Ramovic was first to arrive for his briefing. He stayed on for a while, hanging out with Nedbank Cup ambassadors Teko Modise and Stanton Fredericks.

After Ramovic's briefing, it was the turn of Arendse, who briefed the media and quickly left.

READ: All eyes on beefing Mokwena and Ramovic ahead of Mbombela clash

After Arendse, it was the turn of Mokwena, but the Sundowns coach was nowhere to be seen as he kept journalists waiting. Mokwena was apparently running late.

At that time, Ramovic was still hanging around the place.

Had Mokwena arrived at the time he was supposed to, there would have been no way the two could have avoided each other.

The Downs media crew were waiting for Mokwena as patiently as the journalists, some of whom were fascinated to see what the two coaches' reactions would be if they came face to face.

Pirates coach Riveiro arrived and did his part. While Riveiro was speaking, Ramovic got into his TS Galaxy branded car and drove away.

City Press' estimation is that Ramovic would have still been making his way out of the leafy and hilly Parktown suburb when Mokwena arrived.

Interestingly, Mokwena parked in the same spot where Ramovic had.

From a distance, it appears that the relationship between the two coaches has broken down beyond repair.

As they exchanged fire recently, Ramovic called Mokwena a liar. Mokwena in turn labelled Ramovic a media attention seeker. All of this happened through the media.

The two were supposed to meet two weeks ago in a DStv Premiership match at Mbombela Stadium. But the match was postponed after Galaxy’s team bus was involved in a fatal crash while they were on their way to camp for the Sundowns match – the driver of another vehicle died.

The PSL duly postponed the 6 March match to a yet to be determined date in consideration of the extraordinary circumstances following the accident.

Whenever that would be, at some point, Mokwena and Ramovic will finally meet face to face and will have to shake hands in the true spirit of and respect for the game.

Ramovic told journalists that his team had received professional help but said it would take some time to get over the trauma of the accident. He said Galaxy would do everything they could to help the family of the deceased.

He said: 

Galaxy will be away this weekend for a Nedbank Cup last 16 clash against ABC Motsepe League campaigners D'General FC in Bloemfontein on Sunday. The match will start at 3pm at the Free State Stadium.

Sundowns will host NFD side Maritzburg United in their last 16 clash that starts at 6pm.