PSL approve sale of Bloemfontein Celtic to Royal AM

The Premier Soccer League have approved the sale of Bloemfontein Celtic to Shauwn Mkhize’s Royal AM, incredibly allowing a club they have only recently found guilty of bringing the league into disrepute to buy a DStv Premiership status.

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This comes after Tshakhuma Tsha Madzivhandila confirmed on Saturday that they had purchased the GladAfrica Championship status of Royal AM.

Celtic’s financial struggles have been an open secret for years, with Phunya Sele Sele owner Max Tshabalala as far back as 2018 reported to have a South African Revenue Service (SARS) debt of R43 million.

According to documents leaked from the Premier Soccer League, the executive committee have approved the sale. This comes just days after Royal AM were found guilty of bringing the league into disrepute, after failing to attend the promotion/relegation play-offs.

The PSL have approved plenty of club sales in recent times, with many clubs struggling even more for cash in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic.

It remains surprising, however, that TTM were allowed to buy Royal AM, after they had to sell their top flight status to Marumo Gallants last season, with reports of them being unable to pay player salaries.

The fact that TTM were allowed to buy the Premiership status of Bidvest Wits, at the end of the 2019/20 campaign, also raised eyebrows in hindsight as to what kind of due diligence on sales is conducted by the league.

Royal AM have courted controversy since the end of this season, taking the PSL to court after they missed out on automatic promotion to Sekhukhune United. United were awarded an extra three points after Polokwane City fielded an ineligible player against them in a GladAfrica Championship match in January.

Those points took them above Royal AM in the Championship table, infuriating the KZN side, who took the PSL to court, and temporarily obtained a court order suspending the play-offs, which they were supposed to take part in. That court order was overturned, but Royal AM still refused to participate in the play-offs, leaving them in hot water with the PSL prosecutor Nande Becker.