Dismal scenes for SA football as Royal AM fail to pitch again

24 June 2021 - 15:35 By Marc Strydom
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Chippa United players waited for their opponents Royal AM to show up for their match on June 22 2021 before the match was declared a walk over.
Chippa United players waited for their opponents Royal AM to show up for their match on June 22 2021 before the match was declared a walk over.
Image: Steve Haag/BackpagePix

As they had promised‚ Royal AM did not turn up to honour their Premier Soccer League (PSL) promotion-relegation playoffs match against Richards Bay FC at Chatsworth Stadium on Thursday‚ resulting in dismal scenes for South African football.

Richards Bay took the field for their away match‚ only for the referee to signal game over before the game started‚ blowing to signal Royal's no-show at the 3pm kickoff.

As with the previous playoff match – also at Chatsworth Stadium on Tuesday‚ where Royal arrived for the game but were instructed by their management to leave – the three points will be awarded to Richards Bay.

On Thursday Royal did not arrive at the stadium.

Chippa United won the only other playoff game scheduled so far‚ 2-1 against Richards Bay in Gqeberha on Saturday.

Royal have been embroiled in a court saga in which they have aimed to be reinstated to the top of the GladAfrica Championship.

That was the position the Durban team were dislodged from when Sekhukhune United were awarded three points in an arbitration ruling‚ which was upheld in the Southern Gauteng High Court‚ with leave to appeal dismissed.

Royal had received an interdict to stop the playoffs at the court.

The Durban team’s interpretation has been that the interdict should remain in effect while they applied to take the case to the Supreme Court of Appeal.

The interpretation of the PSL‚ and many legal experts‚ has been that the interdict only applied for the duration of the appeal that was dismissed at the high court.

Rules in the NSL Handbook for a team not showing for a match state:

15.2. Where a match is not played because of the late or non-arrival of a Member Club team‚ or of both teams‚ the offending Member Club or Member Clubs will be charged with misconduct. In this regard impossibility of performance as a result of a vehicle breakdown‚ logistical problem‚ or that the Member Club team was unable to locate the match venue‚ will not be a defence to this charge.

15.3. Where a Member Club is found guilty in terms of Rule 15.2, its opponent in that match will receive a “walk-over” (a 3-0 (three-nil) win)‚ unless the Disciplinary Committee considers that a different sanction may be more appropriate.

Royal CEO Sinky Mnisi had said on Wednesday that the club would not honour Thursday’s fixture.


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