Judgment reserved in Royal AM's application to have PSL CEO Mato Madlala held in contempt of court

15 July 2021 - 14:17 By Marc Strydom
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Royal AM chairman and player Andile Mpisane and club owner and president Shauwn Mkhize celebrate with players. Shauwn Mkhize is adamant her team are the rightful champions of the GladAfrica Championship.
Royal AM chairman and player Andile Mpisane and club owner and president Shauwn Mkhize celebrate with players. Shauwn Mkhize is adamant her team are the rightful champions of the GladAfrica Championship.
Image: Samuel Shivambu/BackpagePix

Judgment has been reserved in Royal AM's application at the South Gauteng High Court to have Premier Soccer League (PSL) acting CEO Mato Madlala held in contempt of court.

The application was heard in front of judge Leonie Windell on Wednesday. A judgment is expected in the next few days.

TimesLIVE understands that legal representatives for Royal‚ having initially asked for a communal measure‚ had moved for jail time for Madlala on Wednesday.

The hearing is the latest event in the long saga involving Royal AM‚ the GladAfrica Championship's (National First Division‚ or NFD) final standings and the PSL's promotion-relegation playoffs.

An arbitration result before the final game of the NFD had awarded three points to Sekhukhune United regarding a game in February where Polokwane City did not field the required five under-23 players.

After the final round of results this made Sekhukhune champions‚ for automatic promotion to the PSL‚ and bumped Royal down to the playoffs.

Royal did not honour any of their four playoff matches‚ interpreting an interdict they had earlier obtained against the playoffs proceeding as applying, because they were applying to take their case to the Supreme Court of Appeal.

The PSL's legal advice had been that the interdict fell away once deputy judge president Roland Sutherland had dismissed Royal's leave to appeal to the high court‚ which had earlier upheld the arbitration ruling‚ so proceeded with the playoffs.

Royal's application for Madlala to be held in contempt relates to the PSL's decision to continue with the playoffs.

Royal may be skirting a fine line with their application against Madlala.

PSL prosecutor Nande Becker has charged Royal for the four playoffs matches they did not honour‚ with the disciplinary committee (DC) hearing to be heard on Saturday.

Becker seems sure to push for more than just 3-0 results to be awarded to the opponents in those games‚ and also for a hefty fine.

While a DC cannot expel a PSL club‚ it can recommend such an action to the Board of Governors (BoG). Should such a drastic measure come before the board‚ Royal's court application asking for jail time for the acting CEO of the league might well be held in a dim light.

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