Former MC Alger coach Rulani Mokwena has broken his silence and explained the circumstances that led to him getting into trouble with Algerian authorities.

As previously reported, the SA Embassy in Algeria confirmed Mokwena had been arrested at the Houari Boumediene Airport on Sunday, when he was leaving the country after parting ways with MC Alger.

He was found guilty of possessing undeclared foreign currency of €14,200 (about R274,000). Mokwena was also fined 50,000 Algerian dinars (R6,500).

During an interview with Robert Marawa on Tuesday evening, Mokwena finally broke his silence and explained why he was in hot water.

“We were on our way to Istanbul (the largest city in Turkey). It was me and three other staff members, and I felt a little bit guilty that I was the only one booked into business class,” explained Mokwena, who was traveling to Libya, where he is joining Al Ittihad as head coach.

“We then got to the airport, and we were told we could upgrade the seats for the staff (members). So we got to the counter, to cut a very long story short, we got to the counter, and then we were told we could only pay cash.

“We tried to get some cash to pay and just to upgrade the seats, and after, we were told we had to do it online. We tried to do it online, and it was then rejected because it had shut down or the time lapsed, whatever the reason, and then we were still stuck with the cash, and there was no one else that we could hand the (money) over to, and that was the scenario,” he said.

“But I don’t know if you can steal your salary or money that you’ve worked very, very hard for nine months… How do I work for a club and get a salary paid? You know, and I still have to declare that I work? I think the public knows that I was the head coach of Mouloudia in Algeria, the number one team in the championship; we just won the Super Cup, and I think the people know that I was (working), unless I was offering my services for free, and I’m not so sure what was going on, you know, so how do you declare something that is of public knowledge? I don’t know how to explain this, but it is what it is, you know, Rob,” lamented the Soweto native.

“We couldn’t redeposit the money, so we were caught (with the cash), and as the head coach of the group, I’m responsible for being in possession of it. Even more interesting was the fact that in terms of the legalities, it was said that the maximum that a foreigner could leave the country with was 5,000 (US dollars), but if you multiply 5,000 times four, it is more or less 20,000, and the money was way less than 20,000.”

He added, “But it is what it is, you know, and things were blown completely out of proportion.”