TRAUMATIC INCIDENT Gordon Igesund has opened up about the attack he suffered while coaching Orlando Pirates in 2001. Picture: Alexander Joe/AFP
Image: Alexander Joe/AFP
Gordon Igesund has opened up about the attack he suffered while coaching Orlando Pirates almost 24 years ago.
Aged 43 at the time in April 2001, Igesund revealed what transpired as a group of men entered the field during a training session and held the coach at gun point.
Pirates were table-toppers back then, and would go on to lift the league title.
To this day, it’s unclear exactly what the motive of the attack was.
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Speaking on the Soccerbeat podcast, Igesund said: “They put a gun to my head, they put a gun into my mouth. One guy had the gun.
“Whether it was Orlando Pirates fans or not Orlando Pirates fans. Or if it was another group of people that wanted to disturb us because we were well on top of the log. We were seven points on top of the log.
“People told me that the bus that came was parked at our offices, but I didn’t think too much of that.
“I was ready to leave, I moved out of my apartment and into a hotel. I went to (the police station) and laid a charge of attempted murder.”
Though he did not go into detail about the injuries he sustained, Igesund explained: “I was beaten up; my hair was pulled, and I was hammered. I was really beaten up.”
Now aged 68, Igesund has not coached since he was in charge of Highlands Park in 2017.
In his glittering managerial career with the record of being the only person to coach four different teams to the league title, Igesund worked with 12 different sides between 1995 and 2017 including Bafana Bafana from 2012 to 2014.
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