South African football was plunged into mourning from Wednesday night following the tragic news of Kaizer Chiefs defender Luke Fleurs' death. The former SuperSport United defender was reportedly shot during a hijacking attempt in Honeydew, Johannesburg.
Chiefs Sporting Director Kaizer Motaung Junior discussed how the news of Fleurs' passing had shocked the team and brought sadness all round before praising the player's potential in a career that tragically came to a premature end this week.
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"We were shocked, we shocked that something that came last night. We were hurt, I think that's something that reverberated around the village today, around the meeting rooms and everywhere today. I think from the club's side it's massive sadness, I think yesterday was the 3rd and marks exactly a month to the day he turned 24," Motaung Junior told Marawa Sports Worldwide.
Fleurs, a graduate of Ubuntu Cape Town, had a spell at SuperSport before joining Amakhosi. Motaung Jr. then paid tribute to Fleurs' talent and personality.
"For me, personally one of the best defenders with the ball at his feet, also extremely calm, picks the right pass, very comfortable to play even left centre-back. You mentioned Ubuntu, I think they did a tremendous job with him on and off-the-field," Motaung Junior noted.
Motaung Jr. also highlighted the broader societal context of Fleurs' death.
"The continent is going to have the highest population in the world in a few years, here's a young man applying his talent. He gets gunned down in a violent crime on the African continent," Motaung Junior stated.
"It's speaking to some of the socio-economic issues that we have here in this country and I think there's a bigger purpose to what has happened, but it's very sad and a hard, bitter pill to take.
"We lost someone and I think the country has lost an amazing talent, I think he has represented the u17, u20, everybody knows about the great Olympics he had with the under-23s so I think it's very saddening," Motaung Junior stated.
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