Former Orlando Pirates midfielder Patrick ‘Tito’ Maswanganyi has revealed the reasons behind his decision to leave the Soweto giants this season.
The 28-year-old playmaker joined Bahraini Premier League side Al-Khaldiya SC after spending three years with the Buccaneers.
Speaking to members of the South African Football Journalists’ Association (SAFJA) on Monday night, Tito revealed that he had already informed Pirates of his intention to leave if an opportunity arose.
“I was happy and playing well,” he said.
“I’ve already told them I wanted to leave and if an opportunity comes, I was going to leave. And we had an agreement about that. So that’s why when it came, I requested to leave the club.”
Tito Opens Up About Leaving Pirates
The former Pirates star also revealed that the criticism he received on social media had taken a toll on his family, with some of his loved ones even wanting him to quit football.
“Everyone knows that I was under a lot of pressure, not really pressure, but my family was suffering from the comments that I was getting from social media, I’d say,” Maswanganyi added.
“So they would see those kind of things [comments] and they wanted me to quit football.
“But for me, it was something whereby I would understand because I’m a football player, these things happen. But for them, it was really tough for them.
“I had to make sure that my family is protected from all those things. I just felt like if I would move far away from the country, things would get better in terms of their [mental] health.”
This past weekend, Tito was seen at the Orlando Amstel Arena with his former Pirates teammates during the team’s 1-0 win over Sekhukhune United.
