Chippa United have confirmed that a clause in Steve Komphela’s contract at Maritzburg United is the reason why they did not link up ahead of the new season.

It seemed certain at one stage that Komphela would become Chippa’s new coach, but the PSL returnees have since appointed Kosta Papic as their new head coach.

“Steve [Komphela] had a problem in that he had a clause in his contract [which prevented him from parting ways] with Maritzburg United.

“He is a good coach, but at the end of the day if you cannot sort out all these things then it means he cannot come to us,” explained Peter Koutroulis, Chippa United’s CEO.

Papic is due to be unveiled by Chippa United during Friday. He takes over from Serbian Vladislav Heric whose contract wasn’t renewed despite leading the club to promotion from the National First Division.

“We believe [Papic] is a good coach and will help us stay in the PSL. We don’t want to go back to the first division,” Koutroulis said.