Royal AM face possible sanctions
SOUTH African football’s day of shame was scripted yesterday afternoon when Royal AM Football Club treated the Premier Soccer League with damning contempt by arriving at a venue, and then mysteriously packing their bags and boycotting the fixture.
The rebellious First Division club Royal AM arrived at the Chatsworth Stadium, Durban, for their contentious PSL promotion/relegation playoff match against Premiership side Chippa United.
However, after a while, they drove off.
Given what has gone before, Royal AM’s defiance is a serious error of judgement. The raft of social media comments coming out of the Royal AM camp suggests their defiance was based on legal advice.
Despite Royal AM’s mutinous departure, the match officials went through the usual pre-match protocols along with Chippa. They observed the customary moment of silence two minutes before the scheduled 3pm start.
Under football rules, the NFD club Royal AM have forfeited the match because of a no-show.
The matter will now end up with the PSL’s disciplinary committee, which may decide on a punitive measure.
Because of the gravity of the situation, Royal AM could be banned, apart from facing a hefty monetary fine.
It is likely the PSL will make a statement today. Given time constraints, they may decide to abandon the playoffs.
In that case, Chippa will retain their Premiership status, and the PSL will be free to restart the Premiership in the new season.
A few hours before yesterday’s scheduled kick-off the PSL issued a statement to member clubs. The statement informed that nothing prevented the start of play-offs after Judge Roland Sutherland had dismissed Royal AM’s application for leave to appeal.
As a result, the PSL informed that the Royal AM-Chippa match would go ahead as scheduled.
Shortly after this development, Royal AM’s co-owner and wealthy Durban businesswoman Shauwn Mkhize hinted in a social media post that the tide was turning against her club.
Her post, in part, reads: “I don’t want to be in contempt of court. From where I am sitting … why was Judge Sutherland’s ruling respected?”