Ndoro saga still clouds PSL kickoff
In exactly two weeks from today, the new Premier Soccer League season should be getting under way.
This assurance was made by the league’s chairman, Irvin Khoza last week, indicating that all the uncertainty brought about by the Tendai Ndoro saga, which saw a court effectively annulling last season’s amended log, won’t affect the league programme.
On the other hand, Ajax Cape Town confirmed this week that they will approach the courts to halt the start of the league, as their status was changed by Judge Denise Fisher’s ruling at the beginning of this month, which set aside an earlier ruling that had led to their automatic relegation.
The PSL, which is appealing the court ruling, has told us it will deal with the interdict when the matter arises.
This cannot be an ideal start to the new season. We warned the PSL months ago that the mishandling of the Ndoro saga was bound to sow chaos in domestic football. It all began when a PSL dispute resolution chamber ruled that the player, in spite of having been registered with three teams in one season, was eligible to play for Ajax, in contravention of Fifa rules.
Ajax had every right to play him after that. For the SA Football Association’s arbitrator, William Mokhari, to then rule that Ajax were in the wrong, and sanction them severely with a deduction of nine points, while saying nothing about the initial DRC ruling, seems extremely unfair.
It is something that has to be considered seriously.
It’s disappointing that the matter ended up in the courts, something abhorred by Fifa, and it doesn’t look like it will be resolved soon. Instead, matters could go from bad to worse, should the PSL and Ajax continue to trade blows.
Ajax’s threat to halt the season is fully understood, but the ramifications of an interdict are too ghastly to contemplate. There are sponsors involved. Broadcasters have schedules in place, and they have to sell advertising. Any uncertainty would breed untold chaos.
The PSL and Ajax should long have settled this case – Ndoro was registered in January. Fighting football battles through courts can only set a dangerous precedent that will have far-reaching, unpalatable consequences.