Khoza wades into Ndoro mix
PSL to take issue to Safa for arbitration, says Bucs boss
● Ajax Cape Town are stirring a pot simmering with the potential to plunge the Premier Soccer League into an unsavoury stew of controversy.
The danger of a board deciding the outcome of a match looms large as the PSL appeal against the decision of its Dispute Resolution Chamber (DRC), which granted Ajax permission to play Tendai Ndoro.
PSL chairman Irvin Khoza told the Sunday Times on Friday that the league is escalating the matter to the South African Football Association (Safa) for arbitration.
“On Monday we received a letter from Fifa clarifying this matter. We sent a copy of that letter to Ajax and advised them not to field the player until this matter has been dealt with.
“We were surprised on Wednesday when Ajax decided to field the player against Orlando Pirates,” said Khoza, who is also chairman of Pirates.
“The club will now face the repercussions of their decision and I can’t say what that will be until Safa have dealt with the issue.”
A seven-page letter submitted by Pirates on Thursday further detailing ground for their protest states:
The NSL Handbook is silent on the issue
We hope by the time we convene the BoG’s meeting we would have resolved the Ndoro issue through Safa Irvin Khoza PSL chairman
of the number of clubs that a player may be registered for or may play for in a season. Article 22.9 of the NSL Constitution deals with situations where the Handbook is silent:
“22.9. The Disciplinary Committee shall apply the provisions of this NSL Handbook and should it be silent on any relevant issue, then the peremptory prescripts of Safa, Caf and Fifa will apply in that order, within the constraints imposed by South African Law and the national constitution.
“The relevant Safa Regulations on the Status and Transfer of Players, in Article 5 paragraph 3, states the following:
“Players may be registered with maximum of three clubs during one search (sic). During this period, the player is only eligible to play official matches for two clubs.
“The word ‘search’ is clearly an error and should be “season”. We know this because the word “search” makes no sense in the context, and also because the equivalent clause in the Fifa Regulations on the Status and Transfer of Players, in Article 5 paragraph 3, reads as follows:
“The fact that these provisions are peremptory for Members Clubs of the National Soccer League is borne out by the following:
Both the Safa Regulations and the Fifa Regulations say that the incorporation of this wording is mandatory at national level.
In the Safa Regulations it is stated as fol- lows in Article 1 paragraph 3a:
“The following provisions are binding at national levels and must be included without modification in the member regulations: articles 2-7,10,11,18, 18bis.
Since the applicable article is article 5, it is mandatory for the article to be included in the NSL Regulations since the NSL is a member of Safa.
Similarly, the Fifa Regulations say:
“The following provisions are binding at national level and must be included without modification in the association’s regulations: 2-8, 10, 11,12bis, 18, 18bis, 18ter, 19 and 19bis.”
Other again, the article limiting the number of clubs that a player may play for is article 5, and is therefore binding at national level.”
The Pirates letter ended: “In conclusion therefore we contend that Ndoro was not eligible to play for Ajax Cape Town in the match against Orlando Pirates on 31 January 2018 because, having already played for two clubs in the 2017-2018 season, he is barred from playing for a third club in the same season, namely Ajax Cape Town.”
Ndoro has already played for Ajax in the 3-1 win against Platinum Stars and the 1-0 defeat to cross-town rivals Cape Town City.
Ajax excluded Ndoro for their goalless draw against Free State Stars.
Buoyed by the DRC ruling, Ajax featured Ndoro in their 3-0 pulverising of Pirates on Tuesday night.
Second from bottom Ajax are well within their rights to pursue a path they feel puts them in a better position to stave off relegation.
However, theirs is an act played out on a stage littered with limpet mines. These bombs could very well blow them to smithereens.
What happens if the PSL wins its appeal against the DRC decision permitting Ndoro to play? Ajax will be docked six points, three each for the wins against Platinum Stars and Pirates.
Cellar dwellers Stars from the North West will benefit nothing because the newly sold side didn’t protest against Ndoro playing. The real beneficiaries could be Bucs. who lodged a protest with match officials against Ndoro’s inclusion ahead of the kickoff at the Cape Town Stadium.
Zimbabwean international Ndoro has played for Orlando Pirates, Al Faisaly of Saudi Arabia and Ajax, which is a contravention of Fifa rules governing the registration of players. The rules state that a player can register for three clubs in a single season. That player can play only for two clubs if the seasons of two countries run in the same calendars. The South African and Saudi Arabian calendar run concurrently.
Khoza said the league would convene an urgent Board of Governors meeting where the Ndoro matter will be high up on the agenda. “We hope by the time we convene the BoG’s meeting we would have resolved the Ndoro issue through Safa,” said Khoza.
“We are now waiting for Safa to call the PSL and dispute resolution chamber in order to resolve this matter. The PSL appealed against the decision of DRC to allow the player to play for Ajax even though the Fifa and Safa statutes make it clear that he cannot play.”