Player tapping

Can PSL clubs avoid it?

Even though there are several rounds of the current Premier Soccer League still to go, there’s already one eye on the future, with the 2022/23 campaign a few months away and requiring some planning. This is where Siya sources and key industry figures have flagged tapping up – an unorthodox method of luring a player from one club to another! Kaizer Chiefs, through their sporting director Kaizer Motaung Jnr, have committed to slicing down the average age of the squad and Swallows FC are anxious about surviving the drop before renewing contracts. SuperSport United and AmaZulu FC, two clubs who’ve recently sacked their coaches, have to rebuild… and all that calls for some wheeling and dealing. It’s unlikely that any of these behind-the-scenes conversations will happen without some level of players being tapped up and, on some occasions, leading to tensions between clubs. The recent Usuthu and Amakhosi saga involving midfielder Siyethemba Sithebe is a case in a point, with Usuthu accusing the Soweto giants of one of football’s cardinal sins. But can the PSL avoid the inevitable? The Siya crew looks at the rules and asked a high-ranking official as well as a sports attorney if that’s at all possible!

What the Siya crew has been told…

According to industry stakeholders, agents and administrators, tapping up is almost unavoidable in the Premier Soccer League.

The simple definition of “player tapping” is that it’s an unofficial approach of a player to jump ship without the consent from their current employer – the only exception is in the last six months of an existing contract.

But even then, the suitors still have to inform the player’s existing club of their intentions to conclude a deal.

Indications are that there’s a very low chance of negotiations going through without a prior conversations before everything is approved – the parties involved discuss possibilities before a formal approach.

Fingers have been pointed at the Big Three clubs, the most recent allegations coming from AmaZulu FC regarding how Kaizer Chiefs handled the imminent transfer of midfielder Siyethemba Sithebe.

He is expected to move to Naturena on a pre-contract, effective July 1, and Usuthu have since banned him from playing for the club for the remainder of the season.

A top agent, who did not want to be named, told Soccer Laduma that there are many instances where the Big Three have made contact with players to assess their availability and salary demands – without getting the greenlight from their parent clubs.

“I don’t think they want to pay the big transfers. So, often the Big Three want to know when the contract is expiring to try get the player as a free agent. It’s difficult to prove and it has just become the tricks of the trade,” the agent explained.

FIFA laws prohibit this sort of unorthodox method in their regulations around the status of player contracts.

“A club intending to conclude a contract with a professional must inform the player’s current club in writing before entering into negotiations with him. A professional shall only be free to conclude a contract with another club if his contract with his present club has expired or is due to expire within six months. Any breach of this provision shall be subject to appropriate sanctions,” writes the world governing body in its statutes.

But it’s not stopped it from happening, and in January 2020, then Bidvest Wits coach Gavin Hunt suggested rival coaches were tapping up his players after claiming they’d informed him at the time!

The four-times league-winning coach lifted the lid on player tapping in the PSL and told the media in January 2020 that a few of his Bidvest Wits players (a club that was sold six months later) were being approached outside the window and without consent by “a coach” from a rival club.

He did not say who it was, but was speaking ahead of Wits facing Mamelodi Sundowns in a crucial league match back then.

Hunt said that tapping up players was a reality.

The examples: Sithebe, Comitis and Pitso

The story of Sithebe joining Usuthu broke in December, and in an exclusive interview with Soccer Laduma at the time, AmaZulu chairman Sandile Zungu said he would be appalled to find out that Chiefs had signed the player without a formal approach indicating their intentions.

Zungu then acknowledged in January, when Sithebe could officially talk to a future employee having entered the final six months of his contract, that Chiefs had offered two players in exchange.

Amakhosi now wanted Sithebe early and were willing to send two players, believed to be Kearyn Baccus and Lazarous Kambole, in the opposite direction – an offer Usuthu declined and held their angry stance.

“Kaizer Chiefs didn’t do justice because they spoke and finalised everything before the transfer window opened. In December, they were already done with his deal, which is unacceptable, but we don’t want to start anything,” said an incensed Zungu to journalists three months ago.

“I told Bobby Motaung that I’m not happy with their approach. He will only join them once they complete everything, at the very least at the end of the season. We told them what we want, and to tell you the truth, we have a right to open a case against them.” No case was opened. In May 2017, coach Pitso Mosimane was blasted by Cape Town City chairman John Comitis, who claimed that the then Sundowns coach was luring star player Aubrey Ngoma to Chloorkop with large sums of money.

“The current coach of Sundowns,

Pitso Mosimane, who understands the FIFA rules, has made a direct approach to our contracted player, Aubrey Ngoma, offering him hypothetical millions to join Sundowns next year,” read part of Comitis’ statement to the media at the time.

“This phone call and deal was made directly to Aubrey outside the window, days before our crucial away match with Maritzburg United. This is in serious contravention of the FIFA rules governing player transfers as no player can be directly approached whilst in contract with another club. This tactic from Sundowns is a poor reflection of their brand and how they operate in order to advantage themselves and destabilize other clubs, especially considering that we are competing in a title race.”

Mosimane responded by questioning how else he would be able to sign players for CAF without making contact.

The coach was never charged, and Ngoma joined Downs a year later!

SAFA CEO: Maybe we need Financial Fair Play

The Siya crew sought comment on this topic from Tebogo Motlanthe, the SAFA CEO, who confirmed to Soccer

Laduma in December last year that he had been enrolled in a course funded by FIFA to understand football disputes.

Motlanthe returned from Qatar two weeks ago in the first of several trips that will improve his knowledge on issues like player agents, transfers and compensation paid to developmental clubs.

“In terms of where the contracts are at the moment (approaching the end of the season), I wouldn’t necessarily call it player tapping (if talks are happening), especially the players who are in the final six months of their initial agreements – they are free to talk to anyone,” Motlanthe insisted.

“But as we know, players have agents and they might urge the player to wait because there could be a better offer somewhere else. It’s all about offers.”

The SAFA boss indicated that the federation is yet to receive a complaint alleging player tapping in the PSL, but he made a compelling argument as to how such issues should be dealt with going forward.

“Nobody has brought a case like this to us, but this is about the integrity of the game… the least you can do is tell a rival club that you are talking to their player. We can’t put the blame solely on the clubs – the players ought to know that they are under

contract and if they are speaking to anyone else without consent, they are breaking the rules,” explained Motlanthe.

“It’s a two-way street. Whether it requires for the players or clubs to be educated is something else, but the rules as we know them are clear. But we have questions we need to ask: how much do we respect the game? What do we want to achieve? Remember what FIFA also says, the challenge now is the transfer market, it is not what is appears to be. Clubs agree on the fee, hence in Europe they have Financial Fair Play. I think that is what needs to be introduced in the long run.”

It would be a big step to take in introducing such measures in SA, which would probably affect big spenders Mamelodi Sundowns more than any clubs in the topflight, although the overall objective of FFP is to prevent teams from spending more than what they have or earn in revenue.

SAFA would probably have to make sure that approach is tailormade for the PSL.

“We would need to figure out how to introduce it. In the best developed countries, Financial Fair Play has proved to be a good tool used to manage the transfer market. When I joined SAFA, there was a case where two clubs were fighting over development compensation for a big player, but they were unable to prove it. I think in the long run, we can have records and (a) paper trail to solve some of these issues, just as they are doing it in Europe at the moment,” Motlanthe added.

Legal view: It’s difficult to prove

The biggest stumbling block in curbing the tapping up of players is that the allegations hardly ever go beyond that point.

As Motlanthe has confirmed to the Siya crew, no club has approached them individually or via the League and asked them to address a single case. If that were possible, then it would also give the PSL prosecutor the added motivation to purse the claims, argued sport law attorney Evert De Bruyn.

“The issue is therefore not whether there are rules preventing tapping up, but whether clubs or associations take action against those breaking the rules. Tapping up is usually very difficult to prove, so it is very rare that misconduct charges are brought against a club or agent,” he told Soccer Laduma.

“If a PSL club, however, believes that one of its players is being tapped up, it can either ask the PSL to charge the other club or player for misconduct. The PSL prosecutor will determine if there is sufficient evidence to prove the charge. If not, the club could also file a complaint and proceed with the case themselves.”

Despite several reports and hints dropped by coaches that players have been tapped up in the PSL, it seems the aggrieved never put their money where their mouth is when it comes to stamping this out.

“As things stand, we are not aware of any charges or complaint having been filed in this specific case. The matter seems to be one fought in the court of public opinion instead of the PSL disciplinary committee,” said De Bruyn.