That was the nail in the coffin
On Moroka Swallows cancelling contracts of players
The reason we cancelled those contracts is because the players were charged with three counts of misconduct – the first one was refusal to train, the second was refusing to train and honour and play the fixture against Mamelodi Sundowns and bringing the club and the League into disrepute. There was a Disciplinary Hearing and initially, the (Players) Union said it was representing all the players, but during the process of Disciplinary Hearing, some players jumped ship and organised their own private attorneys. So, essentially, we have a group represented by the Players Union and another group represented by private legal practitioners. The first group was represented by the (Players) Union and those are the ones who were found guilty and their immediate dismissal was recommended. The second group, we just received their verdict today (Monday, 22 January) and they were also found guilty. We are now awaiting their sanctions and anytime their sanctions can arrive. The reason given to the club as to why the players refused to train and honour the fixture against Sundowns is well-documented – they wanted to be paid on 22 December 2023 and the club said: “We will pay you according to your contracts”, and the contracts say that it’s the last business day of the month. The players thought they had the powers to change the contracts depending on when Christmas is. You must remember that before the fixture against Sundowns was dishonoured, there were attempts to try and persuade the players to attend the match and play. The Players Union was involved, but the Players Union took the side of the players and said that, “Well, if the players said that they are not going to play, we represent the players and we are also saying that they must not go and play.”
On allegations the club owed players salaries…
The players wanted to be paid their salaries on the 22nd of December so that by Christmas they would have been paid, but their contracts do not provide for payment on the 22nd December – the contracts say the last business day of the month.
So, merely because there was Christmas on the 25th, the players believed that they would have been entitled to get paid earlier than contracted, but it doesn’t work that way. If players had a contract that said salaries must be paid on the 22nd of December, then they would have had a (legitimate) claim. But that would have entitled them to refuse to work. They had a lot of options. What I know is that the players were demanding their salaries for December… that’s all I know. There were no outstanding salaries for any month. What I know is that players’ salaries were paid. But they demanded the salaries to be paid on the 22nd of December. I don’t think someone can refuse to work by demanding a December salary to be paid on the 22nd instead of the last day of the month. If they were demanding salaries for November, October and September, they would have said, “I’m refusing to play because of that.” But that you read on the newspapers. The Union itself said that players wanted December salaries on the 22nd.
On what this means going forward
The part of honouring games (after the Africa Cup of Nations) will be taken care of because the club will employ new players and recruit other players that are interested in playing and not politicking. What is bad for the reputation of the club is the fact that the club refused to honour fixtures, thereby bringing the League and the club into disrepute. Refusing to play and honour fixtures is the worst thing that the players have done. That was the nail in the coffin. Moroka Swallows was charged and found guilty by the League because of this and those two matches (against Sundowns and Golden Arrows) were forfeited and a R1 million fine was imposed, with R600 000 suspended for 24 months. The only thing the League can do is to ensure that the club and the players do what they have to do in terms of the National Soccer League Handbook. The NSL Handbook requires both the club and players to comply with it by honouring the fixtures. So, both the club and the players violated that handbook by refusing to honour a match. But the PSL cannot do anything if a player says: “I’m not honouring a match because I’m not paid a salary for December.” Let’s say, for argument’s sake, the salaries were due… Still, that doesn’t entitle players to refuse to play because there are remedies within football. (If that happens) You can approach the League to deduct the money from the monthly grant. If the players were owed salaries, they could have approached the League’s DRC (Dispute and Resolution Chamber) to say, “In terms of Article 50 of the NSL Handbook, the club owes us money. Please order the club to pay the money and if they fail (to do so), deduct it from the club.” That is what the League does when players are owed from time to time, and in this case it didn’t happen because nothing was owed to the players. You hear of clubs whose grants are being deducted by the League because players have taken them to the League for an order that whatever is due to them should be deducted from the grant. You cannot go on strike when the League provides you with an effective remedy that we will deduct from any club that refuses to honour its payment to creditors, including players. I can tell you that this is for the first time that players are refusing to play a match because in football, you cannot refuse to play because of a strike. In football, players have what you call expeditious remedies. You can’t strike by refusing to play. For argument’s sake, in terms of the rules, if you can approach the League on an urgent basis, you can get an order within two days to have your money deducted. There are remedies, and FIFA regulations provide that if a club owes a player money… That is Article 12, it says for that money to be considered as overdue, the player must have given the club at least a notice of 10 days. Until such time that a notice has been sent to the club and the club has failed to remedy the situation, you cannot say that the club owes you money. Even under Article 50 of the NSL Handbook, it says if a club owes you money, you must give the club a 10-day notice before you can take any action. Any action means approaching the League, the DRC, for an order to deduct the money. But those things didn’t happen and even the Union knows this. Football involves a lot of stakeholders, you can’t go on strike. You are given speedy remedies to resolve whatever issues you might have with your employer. So, the total number of players may depend on what the sanction is – it could be more than the 22 players. We have two other groups of players that are represented by private legal practitioners.
On what future holds for the dismissed players
When you are dismissed, it doesn’t mean that you cannot go back and beg for the same job. The club has an option to recruit, not necessarily that those players will be taken. But the club has an option to recruit anyone. I just want you to be aware that the recruitment of players will start now, but it doesn’t exclude those who are dismissed. You can still recruit from those who are dismissed if you believe that you can work with them as a club. The League requires the club to honour its fixtures, it doesn’t get involved in the internal politics of running a club. That is the end of the story. Whether you have good players or bad players, the League doesn’t care.