Cape Town – Keagan Dolly faces an uncertain future after losing his PSL Dispute Resolution Chamber case against his club Mamelodi Sundowns.
A possible European move is now on the rocks for the talented playmaker after Sundowns won their case with the PSL's Dispute Resolution Chamber (DRC) against Dolly with regard to the value of the buyout clause in his contract.
It has emerged that when Dolly signed a four-year deal with the Pretoria team in August 2014, the buyout clause was listed as £1.5 million (approximately R25 million).
At some point last year for reasons unknown, Sundowns amended the contract and changed the buyout amount to £750 000 (about R12.5m), in a move the club has since labeled as a "mistake".
After a delay to the hearing, the PSL DRC have now accepted Sundowns' version of events, which means Dolly's buyout clause is back at R25m.
Dolly has already had to fork out of his own pocket for lawyers' fees – reports say in the region of around R200 000, and would have to pay around R50 000 sitting and arbitration fees should he decide to appeal with the South African Football Association.
The Bafana Bafana midfielder has the support of the SA Football Players Union (Safpu), whose president Tebogo Monyai says they may take the matter to Fifa.
"We felt that the PSL cannot be a referee and player at the same time, so we approached the PSL about our unhappiness. We think it's unfair to the player. We want a neutral person making the decisions without any personal interest," he told Soccer Laduma.
"When we didn't get any joy from the PSL, we wrote to Fifa about it. This didn't sit well with the PSL, obviously.”
There are reportedly two offers from Europe on the table already – an R11.5m one made by Greek side Olympiakos six months ago, and a more recent on from French top-flight club Montpellier, of around R14m.
It will ultimately be up to the player to decide which way he proceeds, a tough call for a 23-year-old who has just had the best year of his career on the field.
Apart from winning the domestic and Caf Champions League titles with Sundowns, Dolly was the national under-23 side's most exciting player at the Olympic Games in Rio.
He has also become a regular in the senior national team, and has just been named by Caf in their African XI for 2016, beating off some top overseas-based names.
If, however, Dolly's management team are able to negotiate with Montpellier or Olympiakos to up their bids, any further appeals could be ruled out.
The R25m asking price currently equates to around €1.8m, certainly not big money by today's standards, especially for a young midfield creator of proven experience, quality and undoubted future potential.