GladAfrica Championship side Royal AM says they will not adhere to the summon of appearing before the PSL disciplinary committee on Saturday morning after being found guilty of failing to pitch for the promotion/relegation play-offs matches last month.
After their application for leave to appeal the awarding of three points to Sekhukhune United was dismissed by Deputy Judge President of the Gauteng High Court Roland Sutherland, Royal AM were supposed to accept defeat and play in the play-offs.
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Instead, they pulled a no show for all their two-legged ties against Chippa United and Richards Bay. As a result, Chippa retained their top-flight status by 10 points from the play-offs – thanks to two walkovers against Royal AM and four points against the ‘Natal Rich Boys’.
But late last month, following the conclusion of the play-offs, the PSL prosecutor Nande Becker said they’d call Royal AM to appear before the DC on July 17 in connection with their failure to pitch for the promotion/relegation play-offs as scheduled in June.
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But the Pietermaritzburg-based side has no intentions of heeding to the PSL’s call, with its chief executive Sinky Mnisi telling FarPostZA on Friday morning: "We went to court and the verdict will be announced at a later stage, so why should we attend the DC?”
The verdict that Mnisi is talking about is after their application at the South Gauteng High Court to have PSL acting chief executive Mato Madlala held in contempt of court. The application was heard in front of Judge Windell J on Wednesday - and verdict is expected soon.
ALSO READ: Royal AM could face financial sanctions for no-show at playoffs
Meanwhile, Sekhukhune remain the lawful GladAfrica Championship champions, having also gained automatic promotion to the elite league, following the judgment of Sutherland who ruled that the decision by arbitrator Hilton Epstein SC should stand.
The latter had ruled that Polokwane City should be docked three points and concede a 3-0 defeat, with the points and win awarded to Sekhukhune after they failed to comply with the Under-23 rule in the NSL handbook during their GladAfrica Championship encounter in January.
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