Royal AM loses contempt of court case against PSL chief

Royal AM’s attempt to have acting Premier Soccer League (PSL) CEO Mato Madlala and the league held in contempt of court over recent playoff matches has been dismissed by judge Leonie Windell in the South Gauteng High Court.

The KwaZulu-Natal club’s application was dismissed with costs‚ including the costs of two counsel, and the legal attempt was declared to be without merit.  

The club sought to have Madlala sent to prison for contempt of court for allowing playoff matches to continue while the PSL was being sued. Royal refused to participate as the legal battle with the PSL raged on and the other sides in its games‚ Chippa United and Richards Bay‚ were awarded walkover wins after the KwaZulu-Natal side failed to turn up for the matches.

It was a farcical development that poured ridicule on the PSL and the no-show enabled Chippa to earn a reprieve in the PSL after finishing top of the playoff standings.

It was reported at the weekend that Royal AM will face a disciplinary committee hearing into its failure to honour the matches‚ but the matter has been postponed twice already.

The hearing will be the latest in the long saga involving Royal‚ the National First Division’s (NFD) final standings and the PSL’s promotion-relegation playoffs.

An arbitration result before the final game of the NFD had awarded three points to Sekhukhune United for a game in February when Polokwane City did not field the required five under-23 players.

After the final round of results‚ this made Sekhukhune champions and up for automatic promotion to the PSL‚ and bumped Royal down to the playoffs. Royal then resorted to the courts to try to overturn the standings.