Former Mamelodi Sundowns coach Pitso Mosimane and his wife Moira Tlhagale are entangled in a tug of war with an overseas football agent, allegedly over the non-payment of commission.
Daily Sun can exclusively reveal that Iranian football agent Hamed Ghadiri has unleashed lawyers on Moira’s agency, Moira Tlhagale Sports Marketing and Management (MT Sports).
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This comes after he accused the agency of dribbling him out of his commission for allegedly securing a coaching job for Pitso with the Iranian football club Esteghlal.
News of their dispute came to the fore after Ghadiri’s lawyers, BDP Attorneys, sent MT Sports a letter of demand to pay their client over R1.2 million or face the music.
In the letter, dated Thursday, 5 March 2026, BDP Attorneys said MT Sports granted Ghadiri a special power of attorney (SPOA) to negotiate Pitso’s coaching contract with Esteghlal.
The lawyers said after obtaining the SPOA, Ghadiri signed a service agreement with MT Sports.
They claimed Ghadiri solicited and obtained an offer of employment from the club for Pitso. As a consequence, they added, Pitso signed a contract of employment with the club on 18 October 2024.
The lawyers claimed that MT Sports agreed to pay Ghadiri an amount of USD 75 000 (over R1.2 million) for his services. This, they said, was 75% of the fee MT Sports was to receive from the club after Pitso had put pen to paper.
“MT Sports would pay the service fee into our client’s nominated bank account in full and final settlement of MT Sports’ obligations to our client,” they claimed.
The lawyers further said despite Ghadiri signing the service agreement and returning the same to MT Sports, the latter zig-zagged before giving him a copy.
They said following further negotiations, MT Sports eventually released the service agreement copy to Ghadiri. This, they said, is a confirmation that MT Sports was indebted to Ghadiri.
The lawyers said Pitso also confirmed to Ghadiri in a WhatsApp message on 28 February 2025 that he “should not worry” and that Moira “will pay [him]”.
They also said although Pitso prematurely terminated the contract with the club, the former Bafana Bafana coach promised Ghadiri that he would be paid.
“It was, further, promised to our client that payment would be made once Pitso’s claim against the club before the FIFA Football Tribunal was resolved,” they said.
The lawyers said they received confirmation that Pitso has been paid by the club, but the agency refused or failed to pay their client.
“Our client has been advised that Pitso has received payment of compensation from the club. The same has been confirmed to our client by Pitso by WhatsApp,” they said.
They further explained that they told MT Sports that because Ghadiri has complied with his obligation, the agency owes him over R1.2 million, which is an agreed compensation for his work.
Despite this, they said, no payment has been made.
“At present, the amount of USD 75 000.00 (seventy-five thousand United States dollars) remains outstanding and due and payable to our client by MT Sports,” they said.
Should MT Sports fail to pay the money, said the lawyers, they hold instructions to institute court proceedings against MT Sports and seek a cost order against it.
Speaking to Daily Sun, Lyrique du Plessis of BDP Attorneys confirmed that they have sent MT Sports a letter of demand but said he was unable to comment further because Ghadiri had not given him instructions to do so. He referred us to Ghadiri, who was not available for comment at the time of publishing.
Moira too could not be reached for comment at the time of publishing, as she ignored our phone calls and the messages we sent to her.
However, Pitso confirmed the legal showdown unfolding.
“So did he run to the papers? You guys love tabloids. What I know is that the two lawyers are talking. But I don’t owe anyone money,” he said.
Chadiri confirms instructing his lawyers to act
Chadiri confirmed that he has instructed his lawyers to send a letter of demand to MT Sports.
He said he met Pitso in Qatar and they both agreed that he should negotiate an employment contract on behalf of his wife’s agency, and Pitso promised to pay him a commission.
“He looked me in the eye and said, ‘We are South Africans, like Nelson Mandela. We are honest people, and we will pay you your money.’
“I believed him because I know South Africans are good and honest people, you see. I have too many friends in South Africa, so I had no reason to doubt him,” he said.
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Chadiri said that when the club terminated his contract over a wage dispute, Pitso still promised to pay him after getting his money from FIFA, but he didn’t.
“I feel betrayed by him,” he said.
