By Dylan Bettencourt
- Rulani Mokwena was held by Algerian customs officials after reports he tried to leave the country with undeclared foreign currency.
- Mokwena said on 947 FM the cash came from a failed seat upgrade and the amount was within legal limits.
South African football coach Rulani Mokwena says he was stopped at Houari Boumediene Airport in Algeria over a foreign currency misunderstanding, not a criminal matter.
Mokwena, the former head coach of Mouloudia Club d’Alger (MCA), spoke to radio host Robert Marawa on 947 FM. He was speaking from Turkey while on his way to Libya, where Al-Ittihad Tripoli was about to unveil him as their new head coach.
He said the trouble started when he tried to upgrade seats for his staff at the airport check-in counter.
“We were told we could only pay cash,” he said. “We tried to get some cash to pay, just to upgrade the seats, but after we were told we had to do it online. We tried to do it online, but it was then rejected because it had shut down or the time lapsed.”
That left the group holding cash they could no longer spend, with no one to hand it back to.
Mokwena rejected the idea that he had anything to hide.
“I don’t know if you can steal your salary or money if you’ve worked very, very hard for nine months,” he said. “The public knows that I was the head coach of Mouloudia in Algeria.”
He said the amount was well within legal limits.
“The maximum that a foreigner could leave the country with was 5,000 dollars. If you multiply 5,000 times four, it is more or less 20,000, and the money was way less than 20,000,” he said. “Things were blown completely out of proportion.”
Al-Ittihad Tripoli has since unveiled Mokwena as their new head coach in Libya.
Pictured above: Rulani Mokwena.
Image source: File
