Legal threat over Thanda sale

THE City of Umhlathuze will consider legal recourse against Thanda Royal Zulu if the sale of the team’s Premier Soccer League (PSL) franchise goes through‚ the municipality’s communications manager‚ Mdu Ncalane, said.

The municipality‚ which includes harbour town Richards Bay in northern KwaZulu-Natal‚ had invested financially in Thanda’s promotion to the PSL this past season‚ Ncalane said.

The Umhlathuze municipality has instructed its lawyers to investigate if there is any legal recourse that could be due should Thanda’s proposed sale of the franchise to Durban National First Division club AmaZulu be passed by the PSL.

The terms of the sale have been agreed between the two clubs‚ with the PSL just needing to add their stamp of approval.

A league executive committee meeting last week did not pass the sale‚ with some outstanding issues to be resolved by Thanda and AmaZulu.

“Obviously, we are not happy with the deal. Because it deprives us of an opportunity to have a PSL team‚” Ncalane said yesterday.

The Umhlathuze municipality had written a letter to the PSL asking them to consider the city and not approve the deal, as the municipality had sponsored Thanda for about four years‚ Ncalane said.

The city also upgraded the lights at Thanda’s home ground‚ the Umhlathuze Sports Complex‚ in the past year to Fifa-accredited standard at a cost of R14-million.

It had entered into a R15-million three-year sponsorship (R5-million a year) deal with Thanda‚ signed in April‚ which stipulated that the team would not leave the city.

Ncalane said the municipality was expecting returns of far more than the R15-million and the money spent on the stadium from the spinoffs of having a PSL team in the city.