Ajax Cape Town ruling sparks fresh crisis for PSL

The start of the Premier Soccer League season has been thrown into disarray following a court ruling in favour of Ajax Cape Town.

The Johannesburg High Court has set aside the ruling of the arbitrator William Makhari on the Tendai Ndoro eligibility matter.

According to Judge Denise Fischer’s ruling, the recently concluded National First Division play-off matches are declared invalid.

The Johannesburg High Court’s decision has far-reaching implications for South Africa’s elite league.

It means Ajax Cape Town are re-instated to 15th place on the Absa Premiership log and should have been the club involved in the play-offs.

The ruling also means that Platinum Stars are relegated automatically.

SuperSport United will return to their original position after failing to make the top eight bracket and KwaZulu-Natal side Amazulu finishes in eighth place.

South African Football Association (Safa) legal representative Tebogo Motlanthe says they will make sure the matter is resolved before the start of the 2018/19 PSL season next month.

Meanwhile, PSL lawyer Dennis Sibuyi says the league will have to study the High Court judgment first before determining their next plan of action.

The case attracted a handful of affected clubs.

Prominent Ajax Cape Town supporter Gladys Gailey feels that justice was finally done.

But Gailey says this could have been handled differently and a lot more professionally by South Africa’s football authorities from the beginning.

The High Court ruling has also been welcomed by AmaZulu supporters.

The Chairperson of Usuthu supporters in Gauteng Mpostoli Zwane says he feels their club was snubbed after doing everything possible to finish in the top eight last season.

Ajax were found guilty on five counts of misconduct and fined R350 000 for fielding Zimbabwean striker Tendai Ndoro who featured for three teams in one season, which is against Federal International Football Association (FIFA) rules.

The Cape Town club also forfeited seven points from the matches Ndoro featured in against Platinum Stars, Polokwane City, and SuperSport United with the record showing 3-0 losses for each.

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