Lesufi's attempts to help Swallows buy way back to PSL fails

22 July 2016 - 19:32 By Mninawa Ntloko

Gauteng MEC Panyaza Lesufi suffered an embarrassing bloody nose after his attempts to help relegated Moroka Swallows buy their way back to the Premier Soccer League (PSL) fell flat on Friday.

Lesufi was the leader of a consortium of unknown investors who were trying to fast-track Swallows’ return back to the top-flight through the purchase of the premiership status of Free State Stars in a deal worth north of R55m.But Stars confirmed on Friday that the deal has fallen through and the Free State club will take its place in the PSL when the domestic season gets underway next month.‘‘Free State Football Club had been approached by Mr. Panyaza Lesufi who offered to buy our club football franchise on behalf of his consortium‚” Stars chairman Mike Mokoena said in a statement.‘‘We went as far as signing the sale agreement which was subject to certain conditions which unfortunately could not be met by Mr. Lesufi or his consortium.”Khoza issued an ultimatum on Wednesday and said Lesufi‚ Swallows and Stars had until the end of the week to finalise the deal or else the PSL would not entertain it.The PSL chairman also warned that Lesufi’s own personal reputation was on the line and his name would suffer a massive knock if the deal fell through.‘‘I tried to speak to MEC Lesufi and he apologised‚” Khoza said this week.‘‘But I am hoping that he fulfils his promise because I do not think that this will be good for brand Lesufi if this deal is not concluded.‘‘That is why we said by the end of this week we should know what is happening. We cannot wait for too long because this is not fair to anybody‚ it is not fair to Free State Stars.‘‘You can imagine the psychological trauma that Free State Stars players are going through. Their management‚ their families‚ you know‚ there is a lot of disruption that is taking place right now. What message are we communicating to the sponsors right now?”The prolonged uncertainty over the deal has already had an impact on the release of premiership fixtures for the coming season and Khoza warned that South African football may not recover if the sale is botched.And with the confirmation that the deal has indeed fallen through‚ the spotlight has now fallen on Lesufi and the role he played in the whole matter.Lesufi could not be reached for comment and his mobile went straight to voice mail.Stars had cited financial constraints as the reason behind their decision to sell the club but given Friday’s developments‚ Mokoena conceded that they now have no choice but to soldier on.‘‘Now that we find ourselves in this situation‚ we have no choice but to soldier on and hopefully turn things around in no time.‘‘Fortunately‚ our pre-season preparations were not affected by the sale situation other than the transfer of a few of our players to other clubs."This is quite familiar to us as we are usually forced into a situation whereby we need sell some of our best players every season in order to keep our club in business.”While Mokoena has gone out of his way to soften the blow‚ the reality is Stars are in trouble.They have already sold several of their players in obvious anticipation of a sale that never happened.Justice Chabalala‚ Sello Japhta and Ayanda Nkosi have moved to Orlando Pirates while Lucky Mohomi is now at Mamelodi Sundowns.Stars assistant coach Bradley Carnell also moved to Pirates a week ago.Times Media Digital reported a week ago that Stars’ players were told by club general manager Rantsi Mokoena that the team had been sold and was to be relocated to Johannesburg.But given Friday’s dramatic events‚ there should be several red faces all around. — TMG Digital..

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