CAS dismisses Royal AM's appeal

Mihlali Baleka|Published 4 months ago

Royal AM coach John Maduka will have to make due with the his current squad after CAS rejected the club;s transfer ban appeal yesterday. | BackpagePix

Mihlali Baleka

Coach John Maduka’s work is cut out of him as he must ensure that Royal AM survive another season without new players after their transfer ban appeal was dismissed yesterday.

The club previously applied to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) to overtunr a three transfer window ban – which came into affect in January this year – asking for the ban to be lifted. The application, however, failed to convince CAS.

Andile Mpisane, left, and his mom Shauwn Mkhize have a lot to think about now that the club is set to set another season without signing players. Supplied

The Pietermaritzburg-based side has been barred in the last 18 months from signing players after they failed to pay the sum of R12 million to striker Samir Nurkovic, after his contract was prematurely terminated. They were again sent to CAS after they failed to pay off former Mamelodi Sundowns defender Ricardo Nascimento his settlement fees, as well.

The transfer ban, which has led the club to not to be able to sign players, trickled down to the reserve team recently. The PSL suspended the team from competing in the reserve league – the DStv Diski Challenge – saying they couldn’t meet the required criteria to participate.

More fuel was added to Royal AM’s woes yesterday afternoon, with CAS all but confirming that the transfer ban will not be lifted. They will now only be able to enter the market at the end of the new season next year.

The news must have been disastrous for club president Shauwn “MaMkhize” Mkhize, who must have thought things would be at least easier after appointing Sinky Mnisi as the club’s COO.

Mnisi returned to the club after stepping down as the CEO, due to making “unauthorised decisions,” when Mkhize was away on leave. And having gotten their top-flight status via buying Bloemfontein Celtic three seasons ago, it seems Thwihli Thwahla are yet to master the art of playing top-flight football.

There was a time when chairman and Lkhize’s son Andile Mpisane and his entourage embarrassingly publicly paid player bonuses on the pitch. Mpisane been handed the No 10 jersey – juggling between being a player, DJ, singer and dancer.

But having the club’s request to have the transfer ban dismissed by CAS, Mpisane might have to focus more on his football career now. After all, he’s the chairman.