Gallants team manager Rufus Matsena and physiotherapist Dina Dhlomo were kept back in Libya after the club failed to settle their hotel bill and other expenses incurred when they travelled for an African Confederation Cup tie in Benghazi on March 19.
In a statement on Monday, Gallants said they were negotiating a settlement over what they termed a “financial dispute” while football officials told Reuters that the South African government had stepped in to try and settle the affair. Gallants are struggling at the bottom of the league in South Africa but confounded expectation by qualifying for the group stage of the Confederation Cup and then going on to win their group.
The trip to Libya last month was described as a “nightmare” by the club’s English coach Dylan Kerr, including three days holed up in transit in Istanbul while waiting for onward tickets to Libya to be bought.