South African football player Thulani Cele has detailed why he decided to stay in Georgia even after serving 18-months in prison for a reported charge of robbery in the United States.
Cele was apprehended by the Georgian police on June 4 last year for committing a robbery which purported to the stealing of a cellular phone. The former AmaZulu player had initially went on trial in Georgia when he was in the Nedbank Ke Yona team in South Africa.
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On arrival in the USA, the player then discovered the trial was a scam as his hotel bill was seemingly not paid up which resulted in arguments with the accommodation's manager. Cele had claimed he borrowed a phone when he was in this difficult situation to make a call, that he was innocent but was alleged to have stolen the mobile phone.
He was released from maximum prison on December 1 this year after being in custody and discusses how he never had any visitors in jail.
"Actually, it was supposed to be the 3rd of December, but unfortunately it was on a Sunday so they released me on the 1st of December so now I'm very happy to be back again," Cele told GameON on Radio 2000.
"Yes, it's correct I was in a maximum prison for a period of 18 months. I was sentenced on the 16th of November (last year) but my sentence they say it started the day I was captured which was the 4th of June.
"Nobody was able to come and see me, unless it's someone who answered to the same surname as my own of which it's a very challenging thing. So, people like they tried, the guys tried to come and see me but they didn't allow them because we didn't use the same surname.
Many back home in South Africa were wondering why the player hadn't returned to his country of birth after his release but decided to stay in the foreign country, and the 24-year-old explained further.
"Here in Georgia, there are other opportunities like some teams heard my story and they somehow got involved and they contacted me and wanted me to come and train with them for some time and then they will take it from there.
"There are a few teams who called (me) and said I should come and join them for pre-season which will start later next month," Cele said.
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