No end in sight to Ajax-PSL tussle
Ajax's effort to interdict the start of the PSL season will now be heard on Thursday morning.
Ari Efstathiou, CEO of Ajax Cape Town (Ryan Wilkisky/BackpagePix)
Ajax Cape Town’s continued tussle with the Premier Soccer League over their Absa Premiership status shows little sign of ending, with a postponement today in the South Gauteng High Court continuing to delay the chances of a speedy resolution.
Ajax’s effort to interdict the start of the PSL season will now be heard on Thursday morning, immediately after the PSL attempt, in the same court, to get leave to appeal a decision by Judge Denise Fisher to overturn a decision by Advocate William Mokhari to deduct points from Ajax and relegate them from the Premiership.
Ajax were deducted points by Mokhari for fielding Zimbabwean striker Tendai Ndoro in games against Platinum Stars, Polokwane City and SuperSport United last season, because Ndoro had already played for two teams in the 2017/18 campaign, when Ajax signed him in January of this year.
READ: Ajax to interdict the start of Absa Premiership season
Under Fifa rules, a player is only allowed to take the field for two teams in the same season.
Fisher, however, ruled that only Fifa’s Player Status Committee could decide on Ndoro’s eligibility.
If Fisher’s decision stands, Ajax, for the time being, would surely be restored to 15th place in last season’s league table, which would have qualified them for the promotion/relegation play-offs.
That could throw the new campaign into total chaos, with the play-offs having already been played, and Black Leopards winning promotion.
The PSL have carried on regardless, with a Board of Governors meeting deciding that the Absa Premiership season will go ahead as planned.
The league even went so far as to release all the fixtures on Monday for the 2018/19 campaign, scheduled to start on August 4.
The PSL have also said that even if they are not granted leave to appeal, they will then go to Fifa’s Player Status Committee.
In the meantime, it remains to be seen if Ajax are successful in interdicting the start of the season. Notably, they already failed in a high court attempt to interdict the play-offs.
