Bafana Bafana midfielder Delron Buckley left Durban on Thursday for his German club Vfl Bochum under a cloud of controversy over a New Year's Day brawl at the Waterworld entertainment centre on the beachfront.
Although Buckley denies being anywhere near the Waterworld ruckus, witnesses identified the soccer star as among those involved and said he and others were thrown out of the area, now owned by the Suncoast casino.
Suncoast marketing manager Robbie Naidoo confirmed that the incident had been reported to him, yet would not reveal the names of those involved.
But Naidoo said: "We will throw out whoever causes commotion in our establishments, even if they are celebrities."
Witnesses, speaking to The Mercury separately, said the German-based midfielder, who was on an outing with his family at Waterworld, had been thrown out by security personnel together with his family after he was involved in the fight.
Another witness claimed that he saw a group of men arguing with Buckley's younger brother.
She said: "An argument started over a fight that Delron's nephew or cousin had started a few weeks back when one of these guys was beaten up. They then 'jumped' both Delron and the other family member and exchanged punches.
"It was terrible. Everybody started running. It was a free-for-all."
But Buckley, who spoke to The Mercury before leaving for Germany, said: "What fight? I wasn't there. I was at home with my family."
After The Mercury approached the family for comment when a second witness reported seeing Buckley in the fight, his mother, Yvonne Abrahams, said last night: "Don't make an issue out of nothing. Maybe people saw his brother and thought it was him (Delron)."