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Club involvement in different countries could be a big part of the reason why Kaizer Chiefs’ appeal against their transfer ban in the Court of Arbitration (Cas) will take time to reach a ruling, says Tebogo Motlanthe, Acting CEO of Safa.
Cas’s rulings, such as when Burkina Faso contested the annulment of Bafana Bafana’s 2-1 World Cup qualifying win against Senegal at Polokwane in 2016, can be time consuming.
The result was annulled by FIFA, following a ban by referee Joseph Lamptey for “match manipulation” related to betting, in September 2017.
Burkina Faso accepted Cas’s appeal, and Safa initially thought of supporting him, “but we never did,” Motlanthe said. The result to uphold the FIFA decision came in January 2018, four months later.
Motlanthe, as Safa’s chief legal officer at the time, might not have been directly involved in that Cas appeal, but he certainly would have watched him closely.
The Chiefs have been sanctioned for signing players for two transfer periods after being found guilty by FIFA of illegally signing Andriamirado “Dax” Andrianarimanana in 2018, when he allegedly had a contract with his former club Fosa Juniors in native Madagascar.
Chiefs attorneys appeared before Cas in Lausanne, Switzerland on September 9. Motlanthe was asked why she thinks the court may take so long to render decisions.
“Look, you won’t be sure, but of course all cases are handled on their merits. The last time South Africa had a case with Cas was when Thanda Royal Zulu went to court,” he said.
“And Cas did it here in South Africa and the decision came out pretty quickly, because the judges came from Switzerland and made the case in South Africa.”
The case, in 2013, involved Thanda trying to annul the First National Division. Motlanthe said the difference from the Chiefs’ case is that it involves more than one country.
“Look, it was a strictly South African case [with Thanda]. Remember that in some cases you are dealing with teams or members from different countries, so that’s the other challenge.
“With the Chiefs issue, my involvement has been very limited. At some point the Chiefs had to submit the contract [to Cas] that the player signed with Chiefs. It involved a lot of things, like handwriting experts.
“And then different laws for different countries also create problems.”
Asking Motlanthe how long he thinks the Chiefs’ case may take is like asking how long a piece of rope is.
“I will be open” is hard to say. Especially when you are not involved in the case.
“Our participation was that they [Juniors] You just submitted a contract, which we allowed Chiefs attorneys to come see, and then we returned it to you.
“It’s difficult because you don’t know how far Cas is on the case. Chiefs’ attorneys will know exactly where they are.”
Chiefs Chairman Kaizer Motaung has expressed frustration at the timing of Cas’s decision.
Amakhosi has seen his big three rivals absorb many signings amid the economic effects of Covid-19 and the sale of two PSL clubs: Bidvest Wits and Highlands Park.
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