Mamelodi Sundowns head coach Rulani Mokwena and TS Galaxy counterpart Sead Ramović almost came to blows during their side's 1-1 draw in the DStv Premiership at Mbombela Stadium in what was an escalation of their long-running feud.

After the match, things boiled over as the two benches clashed and even prompted a response from the South African Police Service (SAPS) as the men in blue also intervened and tried to calm the situation down.

The long-running feud has had everything from Ramović calling Mokwena “Mr Sunshine”, to Mokwena accusing the German-born Bosnian of seeking attention through the media.

However, things have taken a more serious twist of late with The Rockets dragging the Mamelodi Sundowns coach to court over the comments he made in April in which he claimed that Ramović had ordered his players to intentionally injure Sundowns’ midfielder Bongani Zungu.

As the long-running bitter feud between the two coaches looks set to move from the pitch to the courts, IOL Sport takes a step back and tracks the beef and uncovers where it started.

Alleged Disrespect - 01 Dec 2023

After TS Galaxy knocked out Mamelodi Sundowns via penalties in the Carling Cup back in 2023, Mokwena lamented that his team was missing some key players.

However, that did not sit well with Ramovic, who slammed Mokwena for making up excuses and branded his comments as being disrespectful towards the rockets.

The famous calls - 21 Feb 2024

Responding to questions from the media after Bafana Bafana coach Hugo Broos was quoted in the media as having said Mokwena “pretended to be God”.

Mokwena said he had called Broos and that did not like speaking publicly about his colleagues. However, in that response, Mokwena also revealed that he called the TS Galaxy’s Ramovic to air his grievances over his comments.

Ramovic accuses of being a Mokwena a liar - 22 Feb 2024

However, Ramovic accused Mokwena of being a liar and said he had used profanity towards him during the heated telephonic exchange.

He also dismissed Mokwena’s claims that Broos had apologised to him.

Mokwena comments after Bongani Zungu Injury - Apr 29, 2024

Mokwena, after Bongani Zungu suffered an injury against TS Galaxy in a DStv Premiership encounter, insinuated that Ramovic, along with his players, had planned to intentionally injure Zungu as some sort of revenge ploy.

In a previous game between the clubs, veteran forward Bernard Parker’s career was put in jeopardy after he was left needing serious medical attention following a challenge from Zungu.

TS Galaxy and Ramovic threaten to sue Mokwena - Apr 30, 2024

Following Mokwena’s comments, Galaxy and Ramovic challenged him to produce evidence to back his claims, failing which the club would institute legal proceedings against him.

However, Mokwena has seemingly not produced the evidence, and Ramović said he would meet the Sundowns coach in court.

IOL Sport