PSL kickoff could be delayed
League resolves to appeal Ndoro court ruling, boss Khoza reveals
PSL chairman Irvin Khoza concedes that there are no guarantees that the start of the 2018/19 season will not be delayed after the extraordinary executive committee meeting of the league yesterday.
The PSL held the emergency meeting to discuss Judge Denise Fisher’s ruling on Monday involving Tendai Ndoro and Ajax Cape Town.
In her judgment, Fisher set aside the arbitration ruling by Advocate William Mokhari SC docking Ajax nine points for fielding Ndoro, who was found to be ineligible. Fisher found that Mokhari did not have jurisdiction to rule on the matter and referred it to Fifa’s Player Status Committee.
The court process could delay the commencement of the new campaign that is set to kick off on August 3.
“We are working towards that but in life there are no certainties… that’s why we are calling an extraordinary board of governors [meeting] to make sure we don’t have that kind of delay,” Khoza said yesterday after the seven-hour meeting at the PSL headquarters, in Johannesburg.
He was flanked by the league’s acting chief executive Mato Madlala, Michael Murphy (PSL legal head), Stan Matthews (SuperSport United), Khumbulani Konco (Bloemfontein Celtic), Kaizer Motaung (Kaizer Chiefs) and Jose Ferreira (Bidvest Wits).
The executive committee also took the decision to appeal the judgment by Fisher at the South Gauteng High Court.
“Having considered the matter, we have arrived at the position that the judgment that was handed down must be appealed,” Khoza added.
“The facts and the details must be referred to the board of governors next week for them to ratify the reason we are appealing.”
The matter will now be taken up with the league’s board of governors next Thursday for ratification.
Khoza added that talk that the Premiership may be extended to 18 teams has not been discussed.
Attempts to reach Ajax boss Ari Efstathiou for comment were in vain as his phone rang unanswered.
For now, Ajax are 15th on the PSL log, while newly promoted Black Leopards’ status remains unclear – at least until Fifa makes a ruling.