Another twist in Sascoc saga

Published Jun 23, 2020

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There is no end to the sideshows before the main event, the SA Sports Confederation and Olympic Committee elections originally scheduled for March 28.

Since the election date was announced, a spate of squabbles ensued among officials who indicated they would be throwing their hats into the ring.

The latest of these spats required arbitration in the matter of suspended Sascoc president Barry Hendricks and complainant Ntambi Ravele, a Tennis SA board member.

The stage was set for arbitrator Alec Freund SC to hand down his award, but Ravele complained that the process was tarnished and should not continue.

Sascoc agreed with Ravele and issued a statement which in part reads: "Ms Ravele complained that the Sascoc attorneys conducted themselves unethically during the proceedings, an act that was prejudicial to her case.

"From the start, Sascoc made it clear that it will not get involved in the merits of the arbitration and will adopt a neutral stance throughout the proceedings.

"This was until the arbitrator requested Sascoc to address him on whether Sascoc had jurisdiction to determine the dispute in terms of its dispute resolutions mechanisms and whether the dispute before him was capable of being resolved through arbitration."

In light of this, the process has come to a halt and the arbitrator has called a meeting with the two parties tomorrow.

The process could have been concluded by last weekend had Ravele not objected.

Depending on what the arbitrator decides after tomorrow’s meeting, the saga could have another twist, given what Sascoc says in its latest statement.

"Sascoc has given notice that should the need arise, they are prepared to make an application to the High Court to set aside the arbitration proceedings that took place, simply to ensure that all parties to the dispute were given a fair hearing," the statement reads.

IOL Sports

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