The story behind the scenes

Mayoyo looking to recoup R100 000

Mayoyo groomed Sibanyoni from the age of 17 up to the age of 19 when he was signed by the Chloorkop-based outfit for the club’s development system in 2015, and he is not backing down in his fight against the Brazilians, in an attempt to claim what he believes rightfully belongs to him for the development of the 26-year-old striker.

The current Free State Stars coach is confident in his case, and that is why he laid out R10 000, which was one of the requirements for the case to be heard. He believes that he is in the right and Sundowns are playing hardball.

Mayoyo feels that he is being undermined by Sundowns and by taking them on, he wants to send a clear message on behalf of local academies and small clubs to be recognised and taken seriously by the big clubs.

The coach’s camp is confident that they can prove that Sibanyoni was developed in his academy, with indications that he still has all the records of the player’s time there. And he is looking for around R50 000 per season for the two seasons that Sibanyoni was at his academy. It equates to R100 000 in total.

The Siya crew has been informed that Mayoyo’s aim is not to spoil the relationship between Sundowns and the academy but to ensure that development is taken seriously. And they are hoping for the backing of SAFA in their pursuit of the matter as the association is on course to getting up to speed with development and compensation.

Will Sundowns appease the claim?

As aforementioned, Sundowns have officially opted not to comment in the public domain, citing the case being sub judice as the reason.

Though indications are that the Chloorkop-based side are playing by the rulebook, with the main question based around the timing of Mayoyo’s claim, which was well past the player’s 23rd birthday.

There is, in addition, a touching point that has left a bad taste in Sundowns’ mouth.

Following putting pen to paper with the Tshwane outfit, Sibanyoni played for Mayoyo in a holiday tournament without the Brazilians’ permission, where he subsequently got injured. Sundowns landed up paying for a medical bill, believed to be close to R200 000.

It’s clear that the working relationship between Mayoyo and Sundowns has somewhat been strained, though Downs could appease the coach by smoking the peace pipe and agreeing to some sort of compensation payment.

How will the ongoing saga affect the player?

Sibanyoni will not be affected by the legal battle between his former academy coach and his parent club because in all the discussions that have happened so far, he has never been involved and has been allowed to focus on playing football and improving his game.

Both Sundowns and the academy are confident that Sibanyoni is the real deal and that he will go on to have a few good seasons in Mzansi’s top tier.

And in fighting for their compensation, Mayoyo and his camp are adamant that they are not doing anything untoward to disturb the player.

Legal expert weighs in:

Kabelo Mashigo from K4 Alchemy Consult has weighed in, giving a legal perspective.

“No one is wrong here and with training development and education compensation, and looking at the NSL and SAFA rules, it’s for the club that signs the player to check if it’s true that the club that claims to have developed the player is right by looking at the player’s passports that get generated by SAFA.

“I think, if I’m not mistaken, it starts at 12 years and growing up to the 23rd birthday. But, also, these clubs that are developing and training these players, it is for them to follow the correct measures when the players get signed by PSL (DStv Premiership) or NFD (GladAfrica Championship) clubs.

“They can do so by writing a letter to the clubs to prove that they have developed the players for a certain number of years that they had been with them. It’s R50 000 per year when a player is signed by a PSL club and R25 000 a year when a player has been signed by an NFD club.

“With training development and education, it’s not a matter of a club coming with a figure that they want – R500 000, for example. There is an actual formula that is used to calculate the amount and it’s in black and white, and that is R50 000 per year when a player is signed by a PSL club and there are other considerations if the player is between the ages of 12 and 15 and things like that.

“It is easy to deal with these issues if you can prove through a passport that you had the player in your academy for that long and you want a certain amount of money. It is not a difficult process that needs to be taken to the PSL DRC and things like that.

We have been dealing with these training compensation issues a lot now and there was a time when the League stopped the payment of these amounts, but they are being paid again.

“The problem in South Africa is that when a club goes to an academy to enquire about a certain player, the club will be told to pay R1 million, for example, and you don’t know how they

calculate these amounts.”