The suspension of Royal AM’s Betway Premiership fixtures will not be lifted as the curator administering its affairs failed on Friday to submit a letter of comfort to assure the Premier Soccer League (PSL) that the troubled club would honour fixture obligations until the end of the season.
The Sunday Times understands that during Friday’s meeting the curator failed to furnish the league with the assurance that the club would comply with its fixture commitments.
Royal AM has played 11 of its 30 scheduled season matches, but has fallen foul of the PSL, which has been forced to cancel two fixtures — Thursday’s clash against Orlando Pirates and the January 11 game against Chippa United. They were due to play Milford in the Nedbank Cup tomorrow, but that too has been cancelled.
The club, owned by Durban businesswoman and socialite Shauwn Mkhize, fell out with the league after the South African Revenue Services, claiming she owed R40m in tax, seized her assets and placed the club under curatorship.
A source close to the developments told this newspaper yesterday: “The fact that the PSL did not issue a statement about the outcome of the meeting can only mean that the suspension has not been lifted.
“They wrote to the league to say they can’t honour the Chippa game. The curator was called in and told that after being given a break for the Chippa game, they must commit that they will finish the season. Yesterday [Friday] the curator could not give that guarantee. As things stand, the league has no letter of comfort that Royal AM will finish the season.”
The only sane decision is that the league should be reduced from 16 to 15 teams and all the results of the 11 games relating to Royal AM must be expunged.
— A source close to the Royal AM developments
The situation places the league in a difficult position, as the suspension of Royal AM’s matches cannot continue indefinitely.
Experts who spoke to the Sunday Times on condition of anonymity said the league must discuss possible scenarios which could see it finish the 2024-25 season with 15 teams. “The only sane decision is that the league should be reduced from 16 to 15 teams and all the results of the 11 games relating to Royal AM must be expunged. You can’t disadvantage the teams that have not played them. I don’t know whether they have the power to do that,” said one expert.
“Also, they will certainly have to change the constitution in relation to relegation. Currently it talks about the bottom two teams but what happens when you have only 15? I don’t know if the rules provide for something like this. If the rules are silent, you must go above to Safa, Caf or Fifa.
“They [PSL] probably must have an emergency meeting of the members to amend the rules in these special circumstances. You can’t have a situation where one team says we want the points. If Sars has attached the club and they’re claiming ownership, they need to determine whether they’re going to carry on running it or sell it. If they sell it quickly and a new buyer comes in, the club may make up the games they have missed. But if the club disappears, what will then happen is all the results for all their games will be expunged.”
The expert said the results of all games they played would be null and void. “You will be left with a league of 15 teams. The league will only decide on what to do once the legalities of the status of Royal AM have been sorted out. If it goes to five or six games the league will have to do something about it. I don’t think you can go to a situation where five or six games are not played before action is taken. We’ll wait and see whether the league will get legal advice.”
Another expert said the league could take the club through a disciplinary process, which could lead to expulsion. “The CEO can refer the matter to the disciplinary committee (DC). As such the DC should on an urgent basis deal with the matter of the participation of Royal AM in the league,” he said.
“That would fast-track the process of expulsion or other remedies as a result of their inability to honour the matches. The second step is if Royal AM does not agree with the outcome, they can appeal.”
The expert said the DC route was the best route the league could use to solve the problem. “The best thing to do to avoid conflict is to call them in, exhaust all avenues so that when you make the pronouncement of expulsion, you have covered all the ground. The issue of representations that Royal AM might make in that process may assist them to come back to the league, those submissions might be a saving grace for them, if they argue that the situation was not of their own making.”
In October the PSL suspended Royal AM from the DStv Diski Challenge because the club didn’t have enough players.
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