DURBAN - The cat is out of the bag regarding the GladAfrica Championship status of Limpopo outfit Tshakhuma Tsha Madzivhandila (TTM).
Masala Mulaudzi, the TTM chairman, has confirmed that they have sold their status for R10 million.
“I put it in the market and said if the team is going to be sold to anyone outside of the Limpopo province, it is going to be R12 million, but if the buyers are in the province then I’d sell it for R10 million," Mulaudzi said.
"There’s a (Limpopo) group of companies that came and bought it. Everything is under control and the status is gone. It is gone for R10 million,” Mulaudzi revealed.
Mulaudzi had tongues wagging when he announced on Twitter at the weekend that he had bought Premier Soccer League (PSL) outfit Bidvest Wits. The Milpark-based club have not commented about the sale of the 99-year-old team.
“They (new owners of TTM) are currently doing their own processes (in terms of applying for approval by the executive committee of the National Soccer League). Of course, we have to finish our games, if all goes well and we get into the playoffs or maybe get promoted, it will be great for them,” Mulaudzi explained.
Historically, the PSL statuses that were bought - with the exception of Cape Town City - have struggled in top flight football. AmaZulu were relegated after buying the status of Dynamos, while Thanda Royal Zulu were also sent packing from the elite league after purchasing the PSL status of Benoni Premier United.
But Mulaudzi is confident that they won’t fall victim to relegation.
“We’ve gone through all the leagues in the country. We’ve planned a lot. TTM have always been competitive. As a team we’ve never been associated with relegation. We’ve also been to play-offs (in First Division)," he said.
"Even if you look at this season, we’ve been competitive. We are sitting at number four on the log with six games to go. I don’t think we will experience any challenges in top flight football. We’ve got our model that will help us stay away from relegation,” he added.
The new Wits owners might find themselves competing in the continent as the Clever Boys are in line to reach the Nedbank Cup final and finish in the top three in the league campaign.
PSL chairman, Irvin Khoza, said they are yet to receive an application for the approval of the sale of Wits.
“We haven’t received any application as the executive. We’ve only seen the story of TTM in the media. We haven’t received anything as the league,” Khoza told IOL Sport.