Ajax court judgment reserved
FORMER Bafana Bafana international and now Tornado striker, Siyabonga Nontshinga, has full confidence in his teammates as they prepare for their National First Division playoffs set to be staged in Polokwane next month.
The 31-year-old former Bloemfontein Celtic striker said he would also add much needed experience to Tshepo Motsoeneng’s side when they take on Buya Msuthu and The Dolphins in the group stages of the playoffs.
The Mdantsane-based outfit earned their place in the tournament after they won the 2017-18 ABC Motsepe League.
Tornado only lost one game and drew one to finish with 73 points and will represent the Eastern Cape among eight other provincial champions.
“It’s going to be a crucial tournament and especially since most of the boys have never been to such a tournament.
“Last year I played the same tournament with Zizwe United, so it’s very important that others like me in the squad encourage the boys who’ve never been there before,” he said.
Nontsinga said anyone could win the playoffs, even though the competition would be stiff.
“I think our preparations have been on point and we have a lot of experienced guys as well in the team, like Luyolo Nomandela.”
The former Santos skipper said they would go to Limpopo with one thing in mind – to win all their games even though they have been drawn in the group of death.
“We do not fear any team in our group because they also don’t know us and this is football meaning anything can happen.”
Nontshinga said the effort his teammates put into every game they played was inspirational to him.
“For some of the guys it was their first time winning the league and I hope this doesn’t end with us winning the league only, but we also win in Polokwane.” JUDGE Raylene Keightley has reserved judgment in the urgent application by Ajax Cape Town to have the Premier Soccer League promotion/relegation playoffs postponed.
Ajax are also seeking to have the ruling by arbiter William Mokhari SC reviewed after they were relegated to the National First Division after three of their fixtures this season were forfeited in favour of opponents.
The high court did not hear the completed arguments in the matter before the kick-off of the first play-off game between Black Leopards and Platinum Stars yesterday‚ but Keightley will likely rule tomorrow whether Sunday’s clash between Jomo Cosmos and Leopards will go ahead.
But the review of Mokhari’s finding‚ to which the PSL’s council advocate Martin Kriegler said the league was not opposed‚ would take much longer‚ according to Keightley‚ possibly up to a further two weeks.
Ajax‚ through seasoned advocate Norman Arendse‚ are arguing that the only organisation that has the proper authority to rule on the matter are Fifa as it is their regulations and the case involves clubs in two separate countries. But the PSL and Platinum Stars‚ who are opposing the interdict‚ say that a delay in the play-offs will be a logistical nightmare‚ with the matches not able to be played during the World Cup as per Fifa regulations.
That would leave only a small window from mid to end-July‚ with the new season set to start on August 3. —