For all the hue and cry of the Royal AM FC saga, the Premier Soccer League (PSL), the administrative body for professional soccer in South Africa, has retained a deathly silence.
A Thursday note on social media informing Royal AM's court case had been struck off the roll was the latest news item to trickle through on the matter.
This means the case has been removed from the list of active court cases, but it does not necessarily mean the case has been completely dismissed.
The case may be reinstated on the roll if the necessary steps are taken to address the issue that caused it to be removed.
Royal AM would have approached the court because the assets of their owner Shauwn Mkhize, better known as ‘MaMkhize', have been frozen. This is also the case with Mkhize's companies’ assets.
This would have resulted in a cash flow disruption which impacted the day-to-day running of the club.
The PSL first shed some light on Royal AM's calamitous situation in a statement near the end of January after the embattled club advised that it was unable to fulfil a Premiership fixture against Chippa United.
Subsequently, the PSL advised that all Royal AM's matches had been suspended.
In early January, Jaco Venter was the court-appointed curator for Royal AM after SARS (South African Revenue Service) obtained a preservation order over the club's assets and operations.
The curator was appointed to help the club resolve issues with SARS and secure permission to release funds for player and staff salaries.
In mid-January, the PSL executive was assured that it would receive a joint letter of comfort from the club and the curator that the way would be cleared for Royal AM to return to normality. However, the letter did not materialise.
To date Royal AM's league fixtures against Chippa United, Orlando Pirates, Marumo Gallants, Stellenbosch FC and Golden Arrows have been postponed, as well as a Nedbank Cup match against Milford FC.
It may be in the PSL's best interests to suspend Royal AM in the same manner they dropped the club from the DStv Diski Challenge.
In that way, all the parties that have claims against the club can set about recovery processes forthwith and the club’s fate does not have a bearing on the running of the country’s top-flight league. | Independent Media Sport