PSL icon calls out dodgy practices in warning to clubs

Former Mamelodi Sundowns skipper Hlompho Kekana believes that it is overdue for there to be a reckoning against professional clubs that abuse players.

Kekana used Richards Bay FC‘s recent sanction as an example and said that dodgy practices in football must come to an end.

PSL icon calls out dodgy practices

The former Bafana Bafana stalwart said that players these days would speak out against ill-treatment.

Kekana thinks it’s a good thing that teams are answerable for the way they handle athletes.

“We should learn as a country from such incidents because it’s no longer the old days where we just have to do as we please. Now there’s technology, players are vocal, they know how to speak,” Kekana told Soccer Zone.

“So, it’s going to be very difficult for a lot of teams if they will try to cut corners and make sure they don’t pay players because players now are vocal, they have their rights and know their rights so they make sure.

“So, they need to make sure that those who still think that the players will be quiet and you play those dodgy games you need to get your books in order,” Kekana said.

Richards Bay FC earn pariah status

A transfer ban from the world football governing body FIFA, handed to Richards Bay last Sunday, is in effect.

The organization’s inquiry has led them to the conclusion that, despite their mutual agreement to do so, the DStv Premiership team neglected to fulfil its financial commitments to Kenyan international Ovella Ochieng.

The winger had made eight league appearances for the team under then-coach Vasili Manousakis before the two sides parted ways last season; Ochieng’s last game was in April 2023.

As was to be expected, the player turned to FIFA to obtain what was rightfully his, and the organization’s strict policy in these situations is to apply a transfer restriction if the team refuses to pay.

The KwaZulu-Natal team has joined Royal AM on the list of Premier Soccer League [PSL] teams that FIFA has blacklisted from registering new players. The team is now battling for survival in the top division with a handful of games remaining to prevent relegation.

The team controlled by businesswoman Shauwn Mkhize has not had its sanctions lifted since June of last year because they have still not paid striker Samir Nurkovic and defender Ricardo Nascimento.

FIFA recently reduced the suspensions of two more PSL teams after Chippa United and Polokwane City made settlement payments to former players who had brought their cases to Zurich. Richards Bay could avoid any real impact by settling the matter before the end of the season.