By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
Royal AM have been fined a total of R4 million by the Premier Soccer League and docked 12 points for the 2021/22 season – but the points are part of a suspended sentence.
The ruling handed down on Tuesday, as expected, awarded 3-0 wins to Royal AM’s opponents – Chippa United and Richard Bay – in the play-off matches that they missed, meaning Chippa United remain in the DStv Premiership, though in any case, the South African top flight has already kicked off.
Royal AM were also fined R1 million per match that they missed, but R700 000 of this is suspended for two years on the condition that they do not again fail to attend a PSL match.
That means the immediate fine handed down to Royal AM is only R1.2 million. Royal AM were also docked 12 points for the current season in the ruling, but that is also suspended for a year, as long as again, they do not fail to honour a fixture in that time period.
It is understood Tshakhuma Tsha Madzivhandila FC (TTM), who have bought the GladAfrica Championship (National First Division, or NFD) status of Royal AM, will take ultimate responsibility for paying the fine and other sanctions handed out by the DC.
This was according to the interpretation by PSL legal head Michael Murphy in last week’s press conference, explaining the sale agreements of Bloemfontein Celtics’s Premier Division status to Royal and Royal’s NFD status to TTM.
The decision by the PSL to allow Royal AM to buy the Premiership status of Bloemfontein Celtic, and take their place in this season’s top flight campaign, had been greeted with plenty of criticism, given that the league’s Executive Committee sanctioned the sale to a club that their own disciplinary committee had just found guilty of such a serious offence.
And this ruling also looks soft, in the sense that most of the damage is suspended, effectively giving the Shauwn Mkhize’s side a second chance, barring the R1.2 million in fines and the fact that they have to pay court costs.
The Durban team played their first top flight match on Sunday, losing 1-0 against Swallows FC at Dobsonville Stadium.