Tebogo Motlanthe Safa

Tebogo Motlanthe, SAFA CEO during the 2021 SAFA Press Conference at the SAFA House, Johannesburg on the 22 January 2021 ©Muzi Ntombela/BackpagePix

SAFA CEO Montlathe breaks silence on Kaizer Chiefs/PSL saga

Amakhosi won their case against PSL at the SAFA arbitration to have the two December fixtures they couldn’t honour replayed.

Tebogo Motlanthe Safa

Tebogo Motlanthe, SAFA CEO during the 2021 SAFA Press Conference at the SAFA House, Johannesburg on the 22 January 2021 ©Muzi Ntombela/BackpagePix

The South African Football Association (SAFA) CEO Tebogo Motlanthe says the PSL has every right to review the arbitration award handed in favour of Kaizer Chiefs.

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Last week, Amakhosi won their case against PSL at the SAFA arbitration to have the two December fixtures they couldn’t honour replayed.

In December 2021, Chiefs were rocked by Covid-19 within their camp, and they wrote to the PSL requesting for the postponement of their matches.

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The PSL did not respond on time to the request, and when they did, some three weeks later, they rejected the request.

The league then charged Chiefs who in turn took the matter to the arbitration as they believed the Covid-19 situation was beyond their control.

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Arbitrator Nazeer Cassim ruled in Amakhosi’s favour, much to the disappointment of a number of PSL club bosses and football fans around the country.

Now, rumours suggest that the PSL is looking to review the arbitration award in Court, and while Motlanthe isn’t a fan of Courts, he said the league is well within its rights.

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SAFA CEO MOTLANTHE BREAKS SILENCE ON KAIZER CHIEFS/PSL SAGA

“There’s a precedent… I think the court of SA has made a ruling that the arbitrations awards are reviewable. Even the president of the Johannesburg high court in the Royal AM matter, due to PAJA [Promotion of Administrative Justice Act], applied this, so if the laws of the country allows that we have nothing to say,” Motlanthe told Sowetan.

“However, it [approaching courts to have arbitrations’ ruling reviewed] is not something we encourage in football. I really don’t like us to jump the gun and say Safa said this should happen and this shouldn’t happen because each and every case has its on merits. And the PSL hasn’t told us anything.”

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