Chiefs bring out the big guns to take on PSL bosses
Amakhosi hire top legal eagle to fight league
Kaizer Chiefs are preparing themselves for a bruising legal battle with the Premier Soccer League (PSL) to defend their Covid-19 matter by roping in astute legal eagle Norman Arendse SC as part of their defence team.
Chiefs, who celebrated their 52nd anniversary this week, and the PSL are headed for a legal showdown following the team’s no-show for two of their matches in December after their headquarters were ravaged by the coronavirus.
Last month, Chiefs asked the PSL to postpone their December fixtures but the request was declined.
The PSL announced its decision after Chiefs had already missed their matches against Cape Town City and Golden Arrows.
Arendse declined to comment on the case, referring Sunday World to his instructing attorney Karabo Mathangtshabuse, who was not available for comment.
Chiefs spokesperson Vina Maphosa also declined to comment on the case.
Arendse is a veteran and highly respected legal mind in the world of sport. Recently, he was in charge of Sekhukhune United FC legal team in a case against the PSL, Polokwane City and Royal AM.
Sekhukhune won the case against the PSL and were declared the winners of the Gladafrica Championship, resulting in them getting automatic promotion to the PSL.
He is also a former president of Cricket SA. In 2004, Arendse represented the Zimbabwe cricket board during ICC hearings into claims of racial discrimination.
“Arendse is a big gun who has won so many cases in sport and that’s why Chiefs went for him. This shows how serious Chiefs are taking this matter because six points are at stake now,” said a well-placed insider.
Last week, Chiefs chairman Kaizer Motaung said that he was dumbfounded by the PSL’S stance. “Our recent experience that saw us not allowed to postpone matches after the Covid-19 attack has still left us dumbfounded. This has also brought a lot of attention to the running of the league and we have to ensure that we do not let this situation tarnish the good image of the organisation. Just recently, we had an outbreak, which was unprecedented in the country, where we had over 50 people affected, and which rendered us inactive. We could not play two games because we had to shut down the village. We can never forget what has happened to us because of the pandemic and we extend our deepest condolences to those who left us, in all sections of society, who became victims of this pandemic,”
said Motaung.
The PSL has failed dismally to decisively deal with the impasse between itself and Kaizer Chiefs.
The dead end is over the club’s failure to honour two fixtures last month due to the outbreak of Covid-19 affecting 36 players and members of the club’s technical staff.
After more than a month since Amakhosi requested the postponement of its December fixtures, a plea that was turned down, there seems to be no end in sight to the saga after PSL chairperson Irvin Khoza addressed two media briefings.
The briefings have since become a fruitless exercise as far as the Chiefs matter is concerned and just when the members of the football Fourth Estate were bracing themselves for finality.
Expectations were that the PSL would come up with an outcome by following its Covid-19 rules regarding the Glamour Boys burning issue. Instead, Khoza talked to some one way or the other on how the league is innovating.
First, it was the upcoming Dstv Compact Cup that stole the thunder from the Chiefs matter at the first briefing.
At the second one this week, Khoza announced the return of attorney Zola Majavu to the league’s prosecution department, some educational programme for players to improve their financial standing after retirement and impediments to fans returning to stadiums.
Incredibly, once again Khoza disappointingly went on a lecture on the “complexity” of trying to resolve Chiefs’ failure to honour the Premiership fixtures against Cape Town City and Golden Arrows last
month. The bottom line is that the league head honcho admits the PSL finds itself between a rock and a hard place.
Not so fast “Iron Duke”. Please don’t dare try to pull wool over our eyes. Remember the Covid-19 rules in place are binding on all members of the PSL, including Chiefs and the now defunct Cape Umoya.
The latter faced the wrath of the league for breaking the Covid-19 rules by failing to honour their game and points were docked from them last year.
I am of the view the PSL has no holy cows. The same rules must apply to Chiefs because as I understand the operational nature of the PSL legal system, the Covid-19 rules were put in place for a purpose and Chiefs should have resorted to fielding their reserve team players instead of
boycotting the two fixtures.
In a threatening but also scathing statement, Chiefs said they intended appealing their case and would not kowtow to the pressure from the league to have six points deducted for the matches they failed to play.
Chiefs might have a case as the numbers of Covid-19 cases in their camp were at some stage reported to stand at 50, including players, members of the technical team and support staff.
The PSL’S credibility is in tatters, considering the swift action taken against Cape Umoya, when a precedent was set.
If and when Chiefs lose the case, they could receive a hefty fine and the two matches declared 3-0 walkovers to their opponents, the Citizens and Abafana Be’sthende as both
clubs availed their teams for the fixtures.
The court action by Amakhosi could be the turning point that the PSL is avoiding and is trying to find a solution amicable to football el supremo Kaizer Motaung’s club, a Khoza confidante, as both are the longest serving members of the PSL executive and are held in high esteem by the football fraternity.
It is disconcerting that Chiefs intend taking the PSL to court. However, it is equally embarrassing that the PSL cannot get around resolving the stand-off.
As Khoza admits, the waiting is far too long. It will be two and a half months since it broke when the Premiership clubs return from recess on February 15, as many a football fan anxiously awaits how and when it will all come to an end.
Chiefs should have resorted to fielding their reserve team players