Staff Reporter.
Royal AM fined a whopping R1.65m for various charges after the Durban club pleaded guilty to in relation to a DStv Premiership match where owner Shauwn Mkhize and son Andile Mpisane handed out cash to players on the field.
The charges and fines the club received as the first respondent, were:
* pleaded guilty to attempting to pay football players in cash in front of the media, thereby bringing the league into disrepute – R500,000, with R250,000 suspended;
* pleaded guilty to failing to provide adequate security at the match (relating to having 10 more in their attendance party than the 60 allowed as per the PSL’s Covid-19 regulations) – R100,000, with R75,000 suspended;
* pleaded guilty to failing to ensure that their Covid-19 officer complied with his duties – R10,000;
* pleaded guilty to not having their players follow the walk-on procedures, in that they left the changerooms four minutes late (even though the match kicked off on time) – R10,000;
* pleaded guilty to only having 10 match balls as opposed to 11 – R5,000.
The charge and fine for the second respondent, Royal AM Covid-19 officer Sthembiso Hlongwane, was:
* admitted to not making sure all club officials and attendees wore face masks at all times – R10,000 (Hlongwane had a suspended sentence from previous club Real Kings last year for a similar offence, and also has to pay that further R180,000 previously suspended fine).